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Árbol del Sol
Thought for the Month The SunTree Traveler
St. Patrick's Day (week/weekend or whatever) at Riverside Ranch Last Summer, some club members suggested that we plan an event to Riverside Ranch in San Antonio, TX sometime soon. We would have gone on to plan one at the time, but we wanted to also participate in the “birthday” celebrations at deAnza Springs Resort so we scheduled our event there. Now that it is time for St. Patrick’s Day frolics and since Riverside Ranch is offering special rates during that week, we have nailed that location onto our calendar. St. Patrick’s day will fall on a Monday this year so Riverside Ranch are making their plans to have their corned beef and cabbage dinner and dance on Sat. March 15th. Make your plans to meet the SunTree Club members on Saturday, 15 March, but come earlier or stay later as your schedule allows. You should also make reservations as soon as possible. Riverside Ranch has asked that at the latest, you should make your reservation by 1 March. Contact SunTree as well as making your reservations with Riverside. That way, we will have an idea of how many of the SunTree gang to look for and plan on a get together while we are at Riverside.
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. By the way, the date chosen was done with the scientific "dart-board" selection process. If the date on our calendar is not compatible with your personal plans, let SunTree know prior to the publication of the April newsletter. We will attempt to coordinate with all members who have expressed interest in this event to encourage maximum convenience for the membership.
Evening: Mars, who has been sort of biding his time in the evening sky as a bright "orangy" globe, is now high overhead by 7 PM. He will pay a visit near to the Moon on Friday 14 March while we are occupied with Riverside Ranch activities. During March, old man Mars will start to dim somewhat, from brilliant to merely bright. Saturn, will be out all night in March and will also fade slightly as its rings tilt increasingly edgewise. Do not despair, since Saturn is still at a reasonable brightness for you to watch at magnitude 0.3. If you have a good telescope, this month is a good time to look at Saturn because the edge-wise rings will be casting a shadow on the surface of the planet. On 18 March, the day after St. Patrick's Day, Leo’s brightest star, Regulus will horn in to a position between the Moon and Saturn. Morning: I hope that everybody enjoyed that February show put on for us by Venus and Jupiter starting on their near meeting on the first of the month, then gradually moving apart through the month. I was surprised at how late into the morning both planets could be seen as the sky brightened toward sunrise. It was beautiful. This month, the two planets who were featured in that exhibit are still showing off, but separately. Jupiter, which was quite bright during February will continue to brighten (to magnitude -2) slightly and will start rising before 4 AM. Venus is still very bright at magnitude -3.9 overwhelming poor nearby little Mercury. Venus will continue its eastward movement getting lower in the morning sky and will be very difficult to see from now on until fall. On the fifth, Venus will join in a celestial conference with the mere sliver of the Moon and with the planets Mercury and Neptune, but the team will only be just above the horizon at 6 AM and difficult to observe even though the triangle that they form will be bright enough to see through the brightening of the eastern sky.. Obviously they want this to be a secret meeting away from human observation. Spring begins with the vernal equinox on 20 March east coast time, but 19 March in SunTree-land at 11:48 am.
© 2004 SunTree Travel Club - Site updated Summer 2008
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March Club Doings