Yup! It’s that time again. Time for the quarter-annual sunset watch … only this time I’ll be 8.25 months pregnant when we meet!

• When: Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 7:22pm (so come at 7:00pm)
• Where: Solstice Park – all the way up the hill from the tennis courts (or, if you’re not in Seattle, wherever you have a view of the western horizon!)
• Who: Everyone welcome, as usual.

Sunset on June 11, 2009 Credit: Jason Gift Enevoldsen

Come watch the spring equinox sunset at Solstice Park in West Seattle on Sunday the 20th. We’ll see if the sunset lines up with the placed marker. I’ll be there even if it is cloudy because sometimes the Sun peeks through just as it begins to set, but if it is driving rain or sleet I’m staying home with a cup of tea.

If you’re interested – here’s the timing of various celestial events on Saturday from Seattle, courtesy of the U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department:

Sun and Moon Data for One Day

The following information is provided for Seattle, King County, Washington (longitude W122.3, latitude N47.6):

Sunday   20 March 2011         Pacific Daylight Time

SUN
Begin civil twilight       6:42 a.m.
Sunrise                    7:13 a.m.
Sun transit                1:17 p.m.
Sunset                     7:22 p.m.
End civil twilight         7:53 p.m.

MOON
Moonrise                   7:57 p.m. on preceding day
Moon transit               1:41 a.m.
Moonset                    7:12 a.m.
Moonrise                   9:21 p.m.
Moonset                    7:41 a.m. on following day

Phase of the Moon on 20 March: waning gibbous with 98% of the Moon’s visible disk illuminated.

Full Moon on 19 March 2011 at 11:11 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

This event is my part of the NASA’s Solar System Ambassadors program, and thanks to West Seattle Blog for publicizing the last few!

Everyone is welcome, see you there!

~ A l i c e !

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