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Árbol del Sol
Thought for the Month I've learned ... That one should keep his words both soft and tender,
Valentine’s Day at Elephant Butte Towering white caps thundering on the steep shores of the hot tub did not discourage the February Elephant Butte SunTree participants from facing the tempest to get in some solid, fulfilling soaking time. There was somewhat of a breeze wafting through the patio to enhance the beautiful sunny weather during the club event. Food was, of course, the main event of the weekend along with an impromptu drawing for door prizes for all.
The calendar shows that we will be attending an event at Mira Vista RESORT in Marana, AZ for their St. Patrick's weekend event. Based upon comments from the various members who have contacted SunTree, it would seem that the event will be very lightly attended. We are not canceling the event because it will be a great place to spend the weekend for those who do not have personal conflicts. This is mentioned here in order to warn those who do plan to go, not go to the trouble of bringing enough food to feed the population of Long Island. Besides, Mira Vista does have a good restaurant and it is a pleasant place to have a good conversation while others do the cooking. A note concerning the April event: We are planning to join together into a thundering hoard of SunTree folks and decend upon our displaced SunTree hosts who live in Phoenix. If you plan on joining with us for this adventure, please contact SunTree (see the "Contact us" button) to let us know. We do want our hosts to be forewarned as to the number of participants. You will be given information on the nature of the event at that time and some directions. They have a couple of places for people with RV's to dry park and it is possible for some to camp out in the house for the weekend. If you do not have an RV, then the most comfortable snooze place will be a hotel. We can give you a suggestion or two when you contact us. We will forward your information on to the hosts.
Venus plays the switch-hitter in the March sky Evening Sky: Saturn comes closest to Earth on 8 March. In the southeastern sky at magnitude 0.7, Saturn produces its faintest opposition since 1997, with its rings nearly edgewise. Venus is, once again spectacular in the early part of the month, shining at a brilliant magnitude - 4.8 but at the end of the month, Venus loses half of its brightness and vanishing into the sunset. Don’t feel sorry for poor ole Venus, though. She has some additional tricks up her sleeve. Venus passes far north of the Sun in its conjunction on 27 March. At this conjunction, Venus will be as close as it will ever come to being exactly between Earth and the Sun. From Earth, it will seem much larger than we are used to it. At this time of the month, Venus will be an extremely thin crescent and because of the diffusion of light through the Venusian atmosphere, the crescent will extend much further around to planet. If you can set up a very steady pair of binoculars to look at Venus during this time, the crescent will extend way past the 180 degrees that you would expect of a ball illuminated by the Sun. If you do this please be very careful because the Sun will be nearby and you can suffer permanent eye damage. Since Venus will be north of the Sun, you might want to stand in a shaded area with a view of the sky to the north of the Sun to look at Venus's horns. Venus can be glimpsed on 25 March and 26 March as a very low evening "star". Morning: On the 25 and 26 March Venus will be a very low morning "star". If you read the Evening Sky section above, you will notice that Venus will be a very low in the west evening "star" on those same days. Venus is such a glory hog. Imagine being in a double billing of Evening then Morning "star". What a ham. Actually, all of Venus’s antics this month will not be convenient for us in southern New Mexico to see as well as our friends in the north. People who live north of 40 degrees north latitude will be able to see it for a longer period each night. Also in the morning sky, Jupiter is near the crescent Moon on 22 March. Spring begins with the vernal equinox on 20 March at 5:44 AM MST.
© 2004 SunTree Travel Club - Site updated Summer 2010 |
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What Happened in February