There are three events of note in the next month:

1. Directly over your head in the evening sky, right now, is the open star cluster the Pleiades; the Seven Sisters.  Look with just your eyes, and most people can separate 6 or 7 bright stars.  Young eyes may see up to 10.  At first, it appears as a faint fuzzy spot, but look closer.  Be sure to explore it with binoculars; a field of gems.

2. Mars is putting on a show all month long.  It is a rather bright orange object in the eastern sky, getting higher as the night passes.

3. March 16, at about 7 p.m., very low in the east you will see a very thin, One-day-old crescent moon  Nearby on its left, a very bright star-like object is really the planet Venus.  Venus is the brightest object in the nighttime sky except for the moon.

Leading actor of the show in February and March is the constellation Orion, the Hunter.  Look high in the southern sky shortly after sunset and you will see the bright stars of Orion start to emerge from the twilight.  There he stands with his club held high above his head and his shield out in front, protecting him from Taurus the Bull.  The most obvious feature is the string of three bright stars in his belt.  Once you find those, the rest is easy.  The star in his left shoulder is Betelgeuse, a red, super-giant star near the end of its life.  His right knee is Rigel, a blue giant star, still young and radiating much energy.  Dangling from his belt is his sword.  It is a chain of three objects.  The jewel of the constellation Orion is the center object in the sword.  It is not a star at all, but the great Orion Nebula.  It is a star nursery.  With a pair of binoculars, you can see the dust and gas cloud.  A telescope revels the bright baby stars in the heart of the nebula.  While you have your binoculars handy, look at the other objects in the sword.  They are both open clusters of young stars.  The star at his head is also an open cluster.

This month, we would also like to talk about 2012.  That is the year that the Mayan calendar ends.  Dec. 21, 2012 to be exact.  We get a lot of questions about this.  The Mayans had three calendars: 260 days, 365 days, and one long one of 5125 years, called a Great Year.  This calendar was based on astronomical events.  We have a calendar that ends every Dec. 31.  Is that the end of the world?  No.  But if our civilization ended in February, we would not have a chance to create the next calendar.  The Mayans never had the chance to make their next calendar.  They did view this as a time of rebirth, but I do not believe they thought it was the end of the world.  So I think this is an opportunity for a celebration.  Also note:  there is no unusual planetary alignment in Dec. 2012 (for those who saw the movie.)

The Administaff Observatory in Humble ISD has public viewing nights once each month.  The next one is Friday, March 12 from 6:30 to 10 p.m.  We hope you will join us.  If the weather cooperates, we will be observing celestial wonders through the telescopes and local astronomers will be available to answer your questions.  The observatory is located next to Jack Fields Elementary in Humble. Please park in the parking lot in front of the school.  For more information, visit our Web site at  www.humble.k12.tx.us/observatory.htm.

– Dr. Aaron B. Clevenson

Clevenson is the Director of the Administaff Observatory