During the “Great Conjunction” on Dec. 21, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn will be about one-tenth of a degree apart, their closest approach since 1623. However, they will be very low in the western sky right after sunset. More information at Space.com

The global Premiere of the award-winning Big Astronomy Planetarium show this Saturday! In just 30 minutes, tour the incredible observatories of Chile and meet some of the dedicated people who bring us big astronomy discoveries. We encourage you to tune into one of four live-streamed 360º showings this Saturday. (These will not be archived, so this is your chance!) https://www.bigastronomy.org/join-us-september-26-big-astronomy-premiere/

Start getting ready for Mars opposition on Oct. 6. Mars continues to get brighter in the late night sky. After the moon passes, Sept. 4-6, train your telescope on the red planet to view its features (unless there is a dust storm). Do forget to observe Jupiter and Saturn while your are at it.

A weekly astronomy themed contest by U. S. Borax:  https://www.borax.com/borax-operations/stars-challenge 

Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) is a small naked-eye comet visible in the early morning hours and soon in early evening. The EarthSky website has an article on how to see it: https://earthsky.org/space/how-to-see-comet-c2020-f3-neowise

Take a look at what our members are up to during the crisis https://sbvaa.org/galleries/members-astrophotos/

No you didn’t miss the January or February newsletters. Due to illnesses, the newsletter was not produced for these two months. We will strive to have a newsletter for March. Thanks for you patience.

It’s been in the news whether Betelgeuse is about (well 650 years ago) to explode. Betelgeuse is a known variable with a range from 0.0 to +1.3. The current dip is more pronounced this time.

Also note that membership for individual or family is now $40.00 / year. Membership runs from January to December. The membership form can be found on our website in the right-hand menu.

Our annual holiday get-together is this Saturday at Shakey’s in Redlands starting at 3:00 pm until 5:00 pm. There is a secret Santa gift exchange for those that want to participate.