Observers with binoculars — particularly of the low power, wide-field variety such as 7x50s or 8x30s — can also see the V-shaped Hyades cluster in the same field of view. Note that the field is strewn with interesting wide double stars, particularly in the vicinity of naked-eye pair θ1 and θ2 Tauri.
While you’re in the vicinity, don’t miss the beautiful Pleiades open cluster, two binocular fields away to the upper right. Clear skies!
On Sunday, 29 March around civil dusk, observers throughout the British Isles with suitably steadied binoculars and small telescopes can watch naked-eye star Epsilon (ε) Tauri disappear behind the darkened hemisphere of the almost 5-day-old waxing crescent Moon, reappearing again slightly more than an hour later. Here’s our where and when guide to viewing it.
If you left it too late to book your Indonesian flight to view the total solar eclipse on the morning of Wednesday, 9 March (UT), don’t despair — put away your passport, sit back and enjoy the spectacle online, courtesy of Exploratorium and NASA TV. For virtual eclipse viewers in the UK, the event starts at 1am GMT on 9 March.
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