Due to the coronavirus situation and current public health recommendations, MSU St. Andrews will be offering a Zoom-based presentation on Tuesday, March 17, 8:00 p.m. instead of our normal program.  There will be no in-house seating, nor post-session observing, for this event.  

We hope you’ll join us online!

Please click this link to join the webinar: https://msu.zoom.us/j/920855823

Be sure to click “join by computer audio” or you will also need to call the phone number below to initiate audio.

Or Telephone:

Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):

US: +1 646 876 9923  or +1 669 900 6833

Webinar ID: 920 855 823

International numbers available: https://msu.zoom.us/u/aeJKAqy00Y

Did you know that humans have sent over forty missions to the planet Venus—and that over half of them failed?  Or that these next two months are the best times to see Venus in the evening sky since August of 2018, and that it won’t be this nice again until October of 2021?  Are you aware that Mars will pass by both Jupiter and Saturn this month, and that won’t happen again for another two years?  Join us by Zoom at the MSU-St. Andrews STEM center to learn more!

Families with school-age and older children are invited to Zoom in for a short (~ 1 hr) presentation focused on Venus.  We will cover its orbit and how it looks in the sky by eye and by telescope.  We will also describe some of the missions that have been sent to Venus, and what we have learned from them.  Plus, there will be a brief update on a bright star (Betelgeuse) that you can see without a telescope which has suddenly dimmed.  And, as always, we will show you how to find the planets and other bright objects that are currently in the sky.  This is a great time for that:  brilliant Venus is easily seen after sunset this month until about 10 PM, and Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn shine in the morning sky, before sunrise.  We will also point out the star that has puzzled astronomers with its recent dimming—you will be able to see for yourself, even without a telescope!

Despite the coronavirus, we will still be offering the presentation on Venus and what’s in the sky this month by Zoom.  Plus, we will try to answer any general astronomy questions that you submit via the Q&A feature.