Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine - March 2020

THE CARIBBEAN SKY: FREE SHOW NIGHTLY!
The Sky from
Mid-March
to Mid-April
bright object in the east. Taking a closer look or using binoculars will identify the
pair of planets that are less than one degree apart.
Saturday, March 21st
Low in the predawn eastern sky are the Moon and Mercury. While barely a sliver,
the Moon will shine a bit brighter than Mercury. This fast-moving planet, only
slightly larger than Earth’s Moon, isn’t always easy to spot because it orbits so close
to the Sun.
—Continued on next page
by Jim Ulik
“It is important for the human race to spread out into space for the survival of the
species. Life on Earth is at the ever increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster,
such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other
dangers we have not yet thought of.”
— Stephen Hawking (2006)
march 2020 CARIBBEAN COMPAss pAGE 36
Step One was to launch the first man into space. Russia put the technology together
to send Yuri Gagarin on a one-orbit ride around the Earth on April 12th, 1961.
There are three ways to observe the anniversary of the first human space flight by
Yuri Gagarin. Number One is celebrating the International Day of Human Space
Flight. The United Nations General Assembly established this in 2011 to recognize
the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight. Number Two is taking a trip to Russia
to observe Cosmonauts Day. This observance was established in 1962. Number
Three is celebrating Yuri’s Night: A World Space Party, which may be more appealing.
However, Caribbean establishments will have to hold their own events because
the closest known World Space Party is held at a pub in Florida.
Yuri had to eject and parachute at an altitude of seven kilometres (23,000 feet)
from the space capsule because at the time there was no other safe way to bring him
back to Earth. One could celebrate this day by duplicating his achievement. Someone
could always have a private adventure and skydive from space like Yuri. A record
height of 39 kilometres (128,000 feet) was established in 2012 by Felix Baumgartner.
That record was broken in 2014 by Alan Eustace. It currently stands at 41,425 kilometres
(135,908 feet). Good luck! Let me know if the Earth is flat.
Monday, March 16th
This period begins with a meeting of the planets. In order of their rising, the predawn
skies will display Mars, Jupiter, Saturn followed by Mercury. Around 0530 this
morning marks the moment when the Moon reaches the Last or Third Quarter.
Wednesday, March 18th
Since its Last Quarter phase, the illumination of the Moon’s surface has been
reduced by 20 percent. This morning before sunrise there is a trijunction between
the Moon, Mars and Jupiter. Saturn can be seen in the eastern sky below (east) and
slightly left (north) of the crescent Moon.
Thursday, March 19th
By the time we see the Moon this morning it has skipped on past Saturn on its way
to meet the Sun. Of course that is from our perspective. Actually the Moon was
roughly 1.6 billion kilometres (994.4 million miles) away from Saturn.
At this early morning hour before sunrise you may see a shooting star or two radiating
out of the southern sky. Peaking on March 15th, the Gamma Normids meteor
will come to an end on March 22nd.
Friday, March 20th
Welcome to the first day of spring. The Sun has crossed through the celestial equator.
Thankfully the days will gradually get longer so solar panels will produce higher
amounts of power to keep all your beverages cold.
As it happens, most planetary conjunctions occur during the early hours. Over the
last few mornings Mars and Jupiter were converging. This morning they have
reached their closest apparent distance. To the naked eye they may appear as one
1965 Soviet Union stamp commemorating Cosmonauts Day.
Grenadines Sails
& Canvas • Bequia
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& FOAM LUFFS
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& AWNINGS
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DINGHY Chaps in a day
Tel (784) 457-3507 / 457-3527 (evenings)
e-mail: gsails@vincysurf.com VHF Ch16/68
News, Expression and Experiences
Sincere congratulations to all staff members who have supported
Caribbean Compass over the
last 25 years of continuous
publication. That really is
an achievement!
Besides providing the boating
community with untainted
news and views, there are two
other aspects of CC that I’ve
come to admire greatly. One,
you allow a large number of
people to express their views,
suggestions and opinions on a
range of yacht-related subjects,
and two, you encourage
amateur writers to submit poems, articles and stories based on their
cruising experiences in the Caribbean. To me, this adds hugely to the
pleasure of reading each publication.
As CEO (retired) of Power Boats, it has truly been a pleasure dealing
with all of you at Caribbean Compass over so many years. Thank you
for continuously seeking excellence and thank you for providing such
a wonderful publication. I hope the next 25 years are just as good!
Donald Stollmeyer, Founder
Power Boats Mutual Facilities Ltd.
Trinidad
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