========================================================================

* * * SKY & TELESCOPE's SKYWATCHER'S BULLETIN - March 16, 2004 * * *

========================================================================
Welcome to S&T's Skywatcher's Bulletin. More information on the items
below is available on our Web site, SkyandTelescope.com, at the URLs
provided. (If the links don't work, just manually type the URLs into your
Web browser.) Clear skies!
========================================================================

VENUS AT ITS BEST

During the evening of March 24th, Venus and the crescent Moon will make a
spectacular pair in the west after sunset. Venus is readily visible in the
evening sky until late May during this most favorable apparition of its
eight-year cycle.

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/article_1194_1.asp

------------------------------------------------------------------------

111 DEEP-SKY WONDERS FOR LIGHT-POLLUTED SKIES

Bright skies aren't empty skies. Here is a table of 111 deep-sky
showpieces (galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters) scattered around the
heavens, most of them visible from midnorthern latitudes through even the
brightest of skies.

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/article_1203_1.asp

------------------------------------------------------------------------

SEEKING THIN CRESCENT MOONS

Here's your 2004 guide for hunting one of nature's most captivating
sights.

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/article_1173_1.asp

------------------------------------------------------------------------

LUNAR OCCULTATION ALERT

During the late afternoon of March 25th, telescope users in Alaska can
watch the 5-arcsecond-diameter disk of Mars slide behind the crescent
Moon. As seen from Anchorage the planet will disappear at 1:42 p.m. and
reappear at 2:46 p.m. Alaska Standard Time; Juneau, 2:02, 2:42; Fairbanks,
1:49, 2:55; Nome, 1:38, 2:46. In Reykjavik, Iceland, this event takes
place in a dark sky. There Mars will be covered at 0:16 Universal Time on
March 26th and will reappear at 1:08. More information about other lunar
occultations that will take place during 2004 can be found here:

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/occultations/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SKY AT A GLANCE

The equinox occurs on March 20th at 1:49 a.m. EST (March 19th at 10:49
p.m. PST). This is when the Sun crosses the equator heading north for the
year, marking the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and fall in
the Southern Hemisphere. To read more about what's happening in the night
sky this week, visit "This Week's Sky at a Glance:"

http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/ataglance/

------------------------------------------------------------------------