Tuesday, March 14 – Today is the birthday of Albert Einstein. It’s not even large enough to be considered a medium-sized crater, but is a mare! Can you see a couple of tiny dark markings? Believe it or not, this is called Mare Aestatis. This is Cruger, and its lava-filled interior is very similar to another study – Billy. Go the same distance again (and a bit east) to spot a small, shallow crater with a dark floor. About one Grimaldi length south, you’ll see a narrow black ellipse with a bright rim. If you would like to see how well you have mastered your telescopic skills, then let’s start there. Tonight the great Grimaldi, found in the central region of the moon near the terminator is the best lunar feature for binoculars. During this period, Lowell wrote several books developing the idea of an extinct race of Martians responsible for various artificial features he thought he had observed on the planet’s surface. Over the next 15 years, he observed Mars with a passion few astronomers could ever hope to match for any single study. In 1894, Lowell moved to Flagstaff, Arizona and established the Lowell Observatory. After traveling throughout the Far East, Lowell’s imagination was set on fire by Giovanni Schiaparelli’s observation of “canali” on Mars. Lowell graduated with honors in mathematics from that same institution in 1876. Percival Lowell was born to a distinguished Boston family with ties to Harvard University. Imagine his surprise when the “star” revealed itself as a small greenish globe! Herschel came upon this same “star” – then located in the constellation Gemini – while doing a double star search using a homemade 6″ speculum-mirrored reflector. Originally named “the Georgium Sidus,” Uranus was previously catalogued as a faint 6th magnitude star by John Flamsteed in 1690 and designated as 34 Tauri.
74 years later, in 1855, Percival Lowell was born. Monday, March 13 – On this day in 1781, Uranus was discovered by William Herschel.
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