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After a little break (of 25 years or so) Bob King is celebrating his retirement with a return to The North 103.3's airwaves!After almost 40 years with the Duluth News Tribune, Bob is now retired. But scratch a print guy and you'll find a radio guy; King and then-UMD Planetarium Director Glen Langhorst hosted Startalk on KUMD for several years in the early '90s.Listen for Astro Bob every other Tuesday at 8am on Northland Morning.

Astro Bob's Backyard Astronomy: A variety of objects to see - near and far - in the coming days.

The International Space Station in orbit
NASA [https://www.nasa.gov]
The International Space Station in orbit

As long as the weather provides clear skies, there is a lot to see in the next couple weeks.

Bob King tells us about several interesting events to observe in the night sky over the next couple weeks:

  1. The International Space Station will be passing overhead on Thursday evening (March 24) between 8:11 and 8:17 p.m. CDT, traveling from the western horizon across the northern sky through Cassiopeia and the Little Dipper and Big Dipper. It will move slowly at first, but its apparent rate of speed will increase as it gets nearer to overhead:
  2. China's Tiangong Space Station will also cross the sky tomorrow evening (Wednesday, March 23) but, unlike the ISS, it will be moving across the southern sky, starting in the western horizon at about 8:45 p.m. CDT, passing just below Orion, then above Sirius (the brightest star in the night sky). It is smaller than the ISS so it will be a bit fainter to the naked eye.
  3. Before sunrise next Monday morning, March 28 around and just after 6:00 a.m. CDT, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and a thin, waning crescent Moon will all be very close together on the southeast horizon. Find a good spot with an unobstructed horizon (in Duluth, perhaps looking out over Lake Superior).
  4. Saturn will continue to move closer to Mars, and by the following Monday morning, April 4 just prior to 6 a.m., Saturn and Mars will be very, very close to each other.

Chris Harwood is The North 1033’s Production Director and (acting) Program Director, a morning/daytime host, and the host of Soul Village. He is also a musician, a music historian, an audio engineer, and an avid record collector.