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Árbol del Sol
Thought for the Month
Riverside Ranch in San Antonio, TX I want to start this comment on our March week activities by including some thank-you messages which I might forget if I do not put them here at the start. First, I want to thank those SunTree Club members who have been suggesting for a couple of years that we plan an event at Riverside Ranch and to those members who have commented upon how nice a place Riverside is. I am personally glad that we finally set up a club event there. It is a wonderful place with wonderful people. The second thank you message goes to the management of Riverside Ranch who went out of their way to make the SunTree participants welcome. They told us that they would happily welcome us back and if we give them enough fore warning, they can set up some nice events for us and their members. If you heard about the storms and tornado warnings during the time that SunTree was at Riverside, they did happen, but not at Riverside. A nice part of those weather warnings is that it made some SunTree folks to delay leaving until the weather system had moved on to the Midwest. St. Patrick's Day was celebrated on 15 March (Saturday) to allow as many to participate as possible. Riverside had a wonderful band playing poolside during the afternoon (some of the band members were either members of Riverside, or were nudists because that was the uniform that they wore while playing). Of course, there was green beer (Miller Lite) available for those who like the suds. In the evening, traditional St. Patrick's Day food was served and I would bet that even people who claim to hate corned beef would have loved what they served. It was delicious. I recommend that we take advantage of the price cuts again next year for a SunTree visit to Riverside Ranch for St. Patrick's week.
Celebrate the End of Income Tax Season with SunTree at deAnza Springs Resort Several of the club members have said that our trips to deAnza Springs Resort in Jacumba, CA have always been fun and we should plan to go there as a group in the Spring as well as in the Fall. That is why we have included a deAnza event on our calendar for April. As all who have been there have said, it is always a fun time, so make your plans to be there with the rest of SunTree. In addition to making your reservations at DeAnza Springs Resort, please drop a note (or leave a phone message) with SunTree so that we can have an idea of how many plan to be there and when. We can make plans for SunTree activities while there.
A Shift Change from the Winter to the Spring Sky People is more Obvious this Month. Our favorite celestial beings are slowly moving off to the horizon this month and are replaced by the early-arriving Summer folk. Something that is noticable this month is somewhat dim so it can only be seen on dark nights far from city lights. It is the zodiacal light which is a glow along the pathways that the planets normally travel across the sky. I only mention it because this is the best time to see it, if you know what to look for. If you are out looking for some of the familiar colstellations right now, you will note that Ursa Major (of which the big dipper is a portion) you will notice that it is upside down right now. Morning: As with last month, the big names in the morning sky this month are Jupiter and Venus. Venus is getting very low to the horizon now. If you are out and about during the pre-dawn hours on 4 April, try to find the extremely thin crest of the Moon in the east just before the Sun rises. That bright spot just to the left and below the Moon is Venus. In a reverse from the dimming of Venus, the other morning planet, Jupiter is getting brighter this month. Jupiter will be rising about 2 AM and should be high in the sky glowing at magnitude of -2.4 by the end of the month. The Moon does its part on 24 April to show you where Jupiter is. The Moon will be hanging out just below Jupiter that morning. Evening: On the early evening of 8 April, find the Moon and you will see, nearby the seven (or is it six, or maybe 16) sisters, the Pleiades cluster The Moon will fly very close to Mars on the late evening of 11 and 12 April. On 14 April, that Moon will move in just to the right of Saturn and the star Regulus and to the left on the next evening. Saturn is putting on a special show for those who have telescopes this whole year. Four years ago, Saturn's rings were almost fully open to Earthlings, but this year, we will be looking at them edge on for the whole year. That gives a lot of opportunities to people with telescopes, but dims the planet for those of us who look at the planet nakedly. If you remember how to find those wacky twin brothers, the Gemini kids, you will notice late in the month that Pollux has a visiting friend who actually looks like his twin (not Castor, he does not look at all like his brother, Pollux). On the week of 26 to about 28 April, to the left of Pollux and a little lower, the friend will be about the same brightenss as Pollux (Magnitude 1.1). That is Mars. Neat view from the surface of our spaceship, Earth. During the last week of the month, Mercury decides to put on a fantastic (for Mercury) performance. About 35 minutes after sunrise, you can see little Mercury putting his heart into a performance in the west at Magnitude -1.4 which is really bright for anybody, much less Mercury. Bravo!
© 2004 SunTree Travel Club - Site updated Summer 2008
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March Club Doings