Here’s a brief look at what’s going on in the Mile High City this week.

March 24:

• Mercury at inferior conjunction with the Sun at 1:00 PM. The innermost planet passes into the morning sky.
• DAS E-Board Meeting – 7:00 PM – 9:00PM (Zoom)
• If you’re planning to to take part in the NASA/AL Hubble Night Sky Challenge, for either the March (Silver) or the entire year (Gold), this is the last week to complete your observations!

March 25:

• Astronomical Observing 101 Class: 7:00 PM at Secular Hub Community Center (Registration Required).
• Astrophotography Special Interest Group (ASIG) – General Meeting for DAS Members: 7:00 PM (more info).

March 26:

• Three planets remain in the nighttime Planet Parade from last month, while the others have moved to the daytime skies. Catch Mars in Gemini and Jupiter and Uranus in Taurus. Mars and Jupiter are two of the brightest objects in the night sky and can easily be seen with the naked eye. Uranus will require optical aid from a telescope to see: Early evenings around 8:30 this week.

March 27:

• Standlely Lake Stargazing Virtual Program – More Scientific Answers to Outlandish Questions (Virtual Lecture) – 6PM (Zoom link).

March 28:

• Standley Lake Spring Star Party – Michael Northey Park Basketball Court at 11364 W 84th Ave, Arvada, CO 80005 – 7:30 – 9:30 PM

March 29:

• If you want to see the Partial Solar Eclipse in Denver, you’ll need to watch it virtually on the Youtube LiveStream. Otherwise, observers in northeastern North America, Greenland, Iceland, the north Atlantic Ocean, most of Europe, and northwestern Russia will begin to see the eclipse at 8:50 UTC. The maximum eclipse is at 10:47 UTC when 93% of the sun will be hidden behind the moon, and  will last until 12:43 UTC.
• Of course, with a solar eclipse comes a New Pink Moon: 4:57 AM

March 30:

• The Moon reaches perigee – its closest point to us in its elliptical orbit around Earth – at 4 PM, when it’s 222,530 miles (363,396 km) away.

Weekend Messier Marathon:

• March 28-30: Dark Sky Weekend – Messier Marathon II – at the Kline-Dodge Dark Sky Site – learn more about Charles Messier, his historic catalogue of deep space objects, and how to pull an all-nighter to view them all in our Messier Marathon Guide.

Clear skies and happy stargazing!