We are a GO for tonight! But it’s going to get cold, so be sure to dress for 30-degree temperatures!

The APL Astronomy Club’s Spring Friends & Family Star Party will be held Friday, April 27th, starting at 8:00 pm (club telescope set up starts at 7:30). Check for a Weather Status Update at this web site on April 27th in the afternoon.

APLers and their friends and families are invited. Club members will have several telescopes out for your viewing pleasure. Bring your own optics if you have ’em – the more, the merrier! NO FLASHLIGHTS

Where: on the lawn next to the Big Dish on the West side of the Main Campus, outside the perimeter fence.

Dress for temperatures at least 10 degrees colder than predicted.

Park near the turnstile entrance by building 21, or near the building 23 lobby entrance.

Sun: sunset 8 pm EDT; end of civil twilight about 8:30 pm.

Moon: waxing crescent, 6.5 days old (reaches 1st quarter the morning of Apr. 29)

Venus: waning crescent (lighted disk similar to Moon’s), 38 degrees elevation at 8 pm EDT, visual magnitude -4.5.

Mars: past opposition, apparent diameter ~10 arc-seconds, 58 degrees altitude at 8 pm EDT, visual magnitude -0.1.

Saturn: rising in the East before sunset, reaches an altitude of 25 degrees by 9 pm EDT (01:00 UT); apparent diameter of rings ~43 arc-seconds, visual magnitude 0.3.

Jupiter: sets about an hour after the sun.

Uranus, Neptune, Pluto: in the early morning sky, not visible in the evening.

Orion nebula (but it will set early), M44 star cluster, associated star clusters in Auriga, various double stars.