Saturday: If you ask an astrobiologist for the three most likely places to find evidence of life in the Solar System, other than Earth, they’d probably say Mars, Europa (“Didn’t they sing “The Final Countdown” in the 1980?”), and Enceladus. Mars makes sense because you know scientists have sent a lot of probes there. Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons, is an up-and-coming interest that first piqued astrobiologists’ interest a few years ago when NASA’s Cassini probe discovered jets of water containing organic materials shooting out. Between the pop culture alien hot spot of Mars and the new favorite is Jupiter’s moon Europa. Astronomers first discovered compelling evidence of a large water ocean on Europa in 1989 during a Galileo flyby. Over the next few years, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) will be on their way to Europa. For a preview of the NASA Europa Clipper mission, go to https://youtu.be/q88fSdGMbys. At 7:00 p.m., Jupiter is six fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southeastern horizon and Saturn is half a fist above the western horizon. Mars is too close to the Sun in the sky to be visible until May.
Sunday: March to-do list: 1) Move clocks ahead an hour for
daylight saving time, 2) Start Spring cleaning, 3) Discover exoplanets. Hmm.
One of these is not like the other. NASA has set up a program through which you
can learn about exoplanets, observe exoplanets, analyze their data, and submit
it to a repository for astronomers to use for their research. Exoplanets are
any planets outside our solar system. For more information about this project,
go to https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/exoplanet-watch/.
Monday: Antares is a fist and a half above due south at 5:45
a.m.
Tuesday: Tonight is a great night to look for the Big
Dipper. Tomorrow will be a great night to look for the Big Dipper. In fact,
every night for many centuries will be a great night to look for the Big
Dipper. But the Big Dipper’s shape slowly changes over many centuries. Tens of
thousands of years ago, it didn’t look like a dipper and tens of thousands of
years from now, it will no longer look like a dipper. For a short video simulation
of the changing Big Dipper, go to https://youtu.be/txJH8RlIoXQ.
For a look at the current Dipper, face northeast at 8:00 p.m. The lowest star,
Alkaid, is two and a half fists above the horizon.
Wednesday: The bright star Capella is about six fists above
the western horizon at 8:00 p.m.
Thursday: Avast ye matey. Swab the poop deck. Pirates love
astronomy. In fact, the term “poop” in poop deck comes from the French word for
stern (poupe) which comes from the Latin word Puppis. Puppis is a constellation
that represents the raised stern deck of Argo Navis, the ship used by Jason and
the Argonauts in Greek mythology. Argo Nevis was an ancient constellation that
is now split into the constellations Puppis, Vela, and Carina. The top of
Puppis is two fists above due south and about a fist and a half to the lower
left of the bright star Sirius at 9:15 p.m. Zeta Puppis, the hottest, and thus
the bluest, naked eye star in the sky at 40,000 degrees Celsius, is about a
half a fist above due south at this time.
Friday: The bright star Sirius is two fists above the
southwestern horizon at 10:00 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and
planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up-to-date information
about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.
All times are Pacific Time unless noted.
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