Upcoming events for February 28 and March 2, 2025
Last Updated on February 28, 2025 by Cass County Communication Network
Here are a couple of updates from our local Solar System Ambassador Pam Roller:
Happening February 28
Planetary Alignments and Planet Parades
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech, Preston Dyches
The Planets You Can See, and Those You Can’t
Five planets are visible without optical aid: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Ancient civilizations recognized these worlds as bright lights that wandered across the starscape, while the background stars remained fixed in place. In fact, the word “planet” comes to us from the Greek word for “wanderer.”
The solar system includes two additional major planets, Uranus and Neptune, plus numerous dwarf planets like Pluto and Ceres. Uranus and Neptune orbit in the dim, cold depths of the outer solar system. Neptune absolutely requires a telescope to observe. While Uranus is technically bright enough to detect with good eyesight, it’s quite faint and requires dark skies and precise knowledge of its location among similarly faint stars, so a telescope is recommended. As we’ll discuss in the next section, planet parades necessarily must be observed in twilight before dawn or after sunset, and this is not a good time to try observing extremely faint objects like Uranus and Neptune.
Thus, claims about rare six- or seven-planet alignments which include Uranus and Neptune should be viewed with the understanding that these two distant planets will not be visible to the unaided eye.
Happening March 2nd
NASA Sets Coverage of Firefly’s First Robotic Commercial Moon Landing
Credits: NASA, explore, Firefly Aerospace, Lauren E. Low, Karen Fox, Alise Fisher, NASA Headquarters Washington, Johnson Space Center
Blue Ghost launched Jan. 15, at 1:11 a.m. EST on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The lander is carrying a suite of 10 NASA scientific investigations and technology demonstrations, which will provide insights into the Moon’s environment and test technologies to support future astronauts landing safely on the lunar surface, as well as Mars.
With a suite of NASA science and technology on board, Firefly Aerospace is targeting no earlier than 3:34 a.m. EST on Sunday, March 2, to land the Blue Ghost lunar lander on the Moon. Blue Ghost is slated to touch down near Mare Crisium, a plain in the northeast quadrant on the near side of the Moon, as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign to establish a long-term lunar presence. Live coverage of the landing, jointly hosted by NASA and Firefly, will air on NASA+ starting at 2:20 a.m. EST, approximately 75 minutes before touchdown on the Moon’s surface. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media. The broadcast will also stream on Firefly’s YouTube channel. Coverage will include live streaming and blog updates as the descent milestones occur.