[The background above is part of an image by the Hubble Space Telescope of the Crescent Nebula.]

WHERE: AT EXPLORIT Science Center, 3141 5th Street, Davis.

Join us Saturday night, April 28th at 7:30 when we will practice sketching various astronomical objects. Why sketch? Sketching produces a record of what you've seen that is much more personal than a photograph or electronic image. It also helps you train your eye to see more and allows you to analyze what you've seen over several observing sessions. Certainly, our eyes cannot hope to equal the light gathering abilities of sophisticated photo emul-sions or electronic sensors. Nor are our drawings as exact as those made by mechanical devices. We are not robots! But the human eye is capable of seeing bright objects, such as stars, within a faint background, such as a cloud of gas. We can also wait at the eyepiece until seeing improves and then record that especially elusive detail. But we also need to be true to our sight and record what we see, not what we remember seeing in pictures from the large observatories.

Don't expect your first sketches at the eyepiece to be works of art. We are making visual „notes‰ of what we see. Come to the meeting where we'll investigate how to begin. We'll also see slides of some exquisite examples of sketching, and find out how modern amateurs are using sketching to improve their own love of astronomy. Weather permitting, we'll view Jupiter, Saturn and the spring constellations after the slide show. It should be fun, so bring your pencils and paper!

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March Meeting Notes: Approximately 20 avid amateurs attended our meeting to learn about the space probe NEAR-Shoemaker and asteroid Eros. We traced the history of NEAR from its brief 26-month-long construction to its launch in 1996, and its 4-year voyage to asteroid Eros. The door prize was a sweet potato whose shape resembled the asteroid. After a review of the scientific accomplishments of NEAR, we adjourned to a beautiful night sky. Larry Snyder favored us with views of the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn as well as many deep-sky objects through his telescope. We were especially favored with the appearance of Alvin Huey, who brought his „small‰ 16 inch dob for wonderful views of the night sky. Alvin also brought his rich-field refractor, which Tim Feldman used to give views of Jupiter and Saturn to the other members. Thanks Tim, Alvin and Larry for your enthusiasm and assistance.

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Northern lights in Davis? At our March Meeting, member Bill Vance told us about some amazing views of the Aurora Borealis in Davis on Friday night (March 30) around 10:40 p.m. to 11:15 p.m.. He observed a red glow and some very long blue-green streamers extending to nearly overhead. His observation site was north of West Covell on Road 99. We hoped that some activity would be observed after our meeting, but we weren't afforded a look at this phenomenon that is rare, but not unknown, in Davis. I continued checking the sky until 4:00 a.m. Sunday, but saw no aurora.

Sunspot group 9393 continues to dominate the visual surface of the sun, spanning an area equal to the diameters of 11 Earths. It is the largest spot group in a decade. The sun‚s rota-tion is carrying it away from Earth, and may be smaller when it reappears in a couple of weeks or so. But those hoping to view an aurora in Davis might want to direct your browser to www.spaceweather.com or to www.sec.noaa.gov/pmap/index.html

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Prominent constellations visible around 9:00 PM in April are:

(1) in the West: Auriga (the Chario-teer); Perseus (the Hero); Taurus (the Bull); and Orion (the Hunter);

(2) over-head: Gemini (the Twins) and Leo (the Lion);

(3) in the Southwest: Canis Major (the Big Dog)

(4) in the East: Bootes (the Herdsman) and in the Northeast: Ursa Major (Big Bear and Dip-per).

Planets. The big news is that, while we are losing Saturn and Jupiter to the dusky haze of sunset, Mars is coming into view in the evening. Well, it actually doesn‚t come up until around midnight, but it is getting closer! It begins the month ap-proximately 84 million miles away, and ends April at a distance of „only‰ 51 million miles. In the eyepiece it grows from 10.4 to 14.1 seconds of arc. That puts its apparent size at about Π that of Jupiter. But be patient! By mid-June the di-ameter of Mars will have grown by 50 percent and be 4 times brighter. For you early-risers, Ve-nus dazzles in the pre-dawn sky with a diameter of 52 seconds of arc. (If only Mars loomed that large in our telescopes!)

Meteors. The Lyrid meteor shower will peak in the wee hours of Saturday, April 22nd. This is a weak shower, with rather faint, slow moving me-teors, but the Moon won‚t make an appearance, so skyies should be dark. Good Luck!

The Astronomy Club is hosted by Dennis Smith with the assistance of Tim Feldman and other eager astronomy buffs. The club is for everyone - adults, children, knowledgeable or ignorant. Come to listen, look and learn, or to share your expertise or experience.