Star Points for February, 2000; by Curtis Roelle Parade of Planets Welcome Spring. March offers many opportunities to experience astronomy not just in the sky but around Westminster. For example you have an opportunity to find five planets (six if you count Earth). Some are bright and easy and others may be found using other planets or the moon. We will also get a sneak preview of two programs being sponsored by the Westminster Astronomical Society and Carroll County parks and recreation. If you haven't been looking outside around dinnertime you might not be aware of three planets that are gathering in the western sky after sunset. If you look west around 7 p.m. during the second week of March you can see Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The brightest of the three is Jupiter shining at magnitude -2. It will be about 1/3 of the way up at an altitude of 33 degrees above the horizon. As you'll recall, a fist at arm's length subtends an angle of about 10 degrees regardless of one's age. If you want to confirm your observation get out a pair of binoculars or a small telescope and see if you can spot Jupiter's four brightest moons. The names of the star-like moons are Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede. About nine degrees above Jupiter is the beautiful planet Saturn. Although fainter than Jupiter it is still very noticeable at magnitude 0. If you want to confirm this observation use your telescope. If you see rings around a yellow ball you are either looking at Saturn or a picture of Saturn. Nothing else looks quite like it. Mars is the faintest of the trio and the lowest. The magnitude 1.4 planet will be just 18 degrees above the horizon. It is currently quite far away, but in a telescope you might see its tiny pinkish disc. If you need help finding Mars look out on the night of Ash Wednesday on March 8. Locate the crescent moon and look for Mars about five degrees to its right. On that same night you can come join local amateur astronomers at the Bear Branch Nature Center north of Westminster. The Westminster Astronomical Society (WAS) has invited Bill Wellington to come entertain children from ages 6 and up. Bill is an astronomy popularizer and has produced several CDs of astronomy education mixed with his own form of humor. Door prizes are going to be given to the first 50 children who register. The grand door prize will be an actual meteorite courtesy of the WAS. There will be no pre-registration. All tickets must be purchased at the Bear Branch Nature Center door on Wednesday March 8. The program begins at 7:30 p.m. but I encourage you to come early and take a moment to look up at the parade of planets. Astronomers will be on hand to point them out. Three other planets are visible are in the early morning sky. Venus dominates the pre-dawn sky and is so bright as to be nearly impossible to miss in the east. The second planet from the Sun, Venus is dazzlingly bright. Venus is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon so you definitely will not need a telescope to see it. Mercury is also hiding in the morning sky later in the month. On the morning of the 16th Mercury will be only 2.1 degrees to the left of Venus. Find a clear horizon to the east and observe the planetary duo before 6:00 a.m. Mercury reaches its greatest western elongation from the Sun on March 28. Mercury remains visible in early April but without helpful landmarks. If the idea of having someone help you find Mercury then you may want to attend the all-night "Messier Marathon" star party at Bear Branch Nature Center on the night of Saturday April 1-2. There is no charge for this event which begins at sunset Saturday night and ends at twilight Sunday morning. You might ask why "All Fools' Day" was selected for a night of staying up gazing at the starry sky. The answer is simply that it is New Moon and so moonlight does not interfere. However, it's also the night that our clocks are set ahead one hour to "Daylight Savings Time." Hopefully nobody is foolish enough to believe that daylight can actually be gained or saved just by moving the hands of a clock.