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BASIL March 2026

The front cover shows David Bennett (BAS Observatory Director) giving a talk on the theme of exoplanets to the Portishead Rotary Club (see p28 for more info.)

Key topics for the month include:

• Imaging opportunity on 28 March: A 4%-lit waxing gibbous Moon partially occults the Beehive Cluster.
• It's a good month for observing Jupiter.
• Observe the 'Worm Moon' and the Crater Copernicus - best observed a few days after the First Quarter Moon.
• 26 DSO observing targets are listed for the month.
• Constellation of the month is Leo, which is well placed to observe, including its many spectacular DSOs.

See p10-11 for Andrew Grasemann's lunar images: the Apennine Mountains and the crater Clavius.

See p24-25 for Andrew Grasemann's SeeStar S50 images of the Orion Nebula and the Rosette Nebula.

Photos of the BAS group visit to European Astrofest 2026 are shown on p26-27.

A report from the Society's AGM on 27 February 2026 is shown on p28.

P29 shows the programme of talks for the 'Wales & West Spacefest', which will be held at Aerospace Bristol on 7 March 2026.  The event is being organised by the Bath Astronomers, Bristol Astronomical Society, Cardiff Astronomical Society and Aerospace Bristol. The morning session covers 'Astronomy and Space in Wales and the West' and the afternoon session has the theme of 'Exoplanets' with presentations from professional astrophysicists at the cutting edge of exoplanet research. It'll be a great day and please ensure that you book a place to enjoy the talks.

The BAS programme of meetings to September 2026 can be found on p30.