December 2019 President’s message
by Steve Hubbard
As I look back on 2019, it’s been the usual mixed bag for us New England astronomers. Overall, the weather improved over that in 2018 such that we didn’t have to cancel any meetings due to rain storms or snow. Astroassembly this year had some of the best weather I can remember.
Then, just as we were going into a prolonged stretch of decent weather this Fall, the EEE virus threat hit. We had to close the observatory as a precaution for many weeks. I guess that’s what happens when you have an observatory next to a pond and down the street from a horse stable or 2, sigh…
We are going into the winter now and the cold, snow and ice will limit our opportunities for a while. That’s hard, but in looking towards 2020, I see some other opportunities ahead that are something to look forward to.
One of the things I’m most enthused about is the upcoming opposition of Mars in October. Mars will be much higher in the sky for us here in the northern hemisphere and will be well placed in Pisces when at it’s closest. It will shine brightly at magnitude -2.6 and will be 22.4 arcseconds across. That is almost as good as it was a couple of years ago. It will just be a lot easier for us to see and above so much of the murk along the horizon. Let’s hope that this time there won’t be a planet straddling all obscuring dust storm to block out the details!
Another observing opportunity for us will be on December 21 when Jupiter and Saturn join together in a so called “Great Conjunction.” This hasn’t happened since the year 2000. Both planets will be only 7 arcminutes apart and will look like a very bright object in the west after sunset.
There are some other things to look forward to in 2020, but for me these so far are the highlights. Hopefully 2020 will bring us many other opportunities and wonderful celestial highlights to share.
See you at our annual Holiday Gala on Saturday, December 14!
