Happy Equinox!

Happy Equinox, everyone!  Hooray for the first day of spring!  And days longer than nights!  

As long as we are on the topic of astronomy,  LOOK UP!  In the western sky just after sunset, there are two very bright stars.  They are really Venus (the brighter one) and Jupiter (the fainter one).  They are really close together in the sky, and it makes for a lovely view just after the sun goes down and the sky is still slightly twilight.  They have already passed their closest approach, and Venus will now move down toward the horizon and leave Jupiter behind. 

If you have a pair of binoculars and a clear evening, check out the moons of Jupiter.  If you balance your binoculars on something stable (say a railing or even a tree branch - just something that won't move while you're looking), then it's really easy to see the four pinpoints of light near it.  Sometimes you might only see two or three, if one of the moons is behind or in front of Jupiter.  If that's the case, just wait a few hours, or until the next day, and try again.  They move quickly (as Galileo found out). 

Happy looking!