Spring

Spring arrives in the northern hemisphere tomorrow, at a moment known as the vernal equinox. This is the point at which the Sun crosses the equator heading from south to north. In many ancient societies, the equinox marked the beginning of a new year.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill

ISS Tonight

18 Mar -3.4 19:56:22 NW 73

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill

WI Dells Officer Accidently Shoots Own Hand

A Wisconsin Dells police officer is being treated at a hospital after accidentally shooting himself in the hand, according to the Sauk County Sheriff's Department.

Sauk Co. Deputy Chip Meister said the weapon discharged while the Wisconsin Dells officer was putting it away in his home Monday evening.

Meister said the officer was shot in the finger tips.

Sauk Co. deputies will investigate the case.

Meister said the officer has limited term employment with the Wisconsin Dells Police Department.

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ISS Tonight - Twice

17 Mar -2.2 19:31:38 NW 31
&
17 Mar -1.5 21:06:48 WNW 30

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill

The planet Venus

The planet Venus is slowly returning to prominence. It is quite low in the west at sunset, and sets in early evening. Look for it a little to the left or upper left of the Moon as darkness falls tonight, and well below the Moon tomorrow evening.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill

ISS Tonight

16 Mar -3.3 20:41:58 NW 68

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill

ISS Tonight

15 Mar -2.1 20:17:24 NW 30

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill

New Moon

The Moon is "new" at 4:01 p.m. CDT as it crosses the imaginary line between Earth and Sun. It is lost from sight in the Sun's glare, but should return to view on Wednesday evening as a thin crescent low in the west shortly after sunset.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill

zodiacal light

A pale pyramid of light sometimes rises from the western horizon on moonless March evenings. It's called the zodiacal light because it is found in the zodiac. This glow is caused by sunlight reflecting off of microscopic dust grains in space.

- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill

Exposed Church

You might call it an act of God. A severe drought in Venezuela has exposed a church—pictured in 2008 (left) and on February 21, 2010—that had been inundated when a hydroelectric dam was built in 1985.

The 82-foot-tall (25-meter-tall) church and the Andean town of Potosi were flooded to establish the Uribante-Caparo water reservoir to power the plant, which is currently operating at just 7 percent of its capacity, according to the Reuters service.

The church is now an ominous symbol of energy shortages in the country, which gets around 68 percent of its power from hydroelectricity, Reuters reported. The droughts spurred Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to declare an energy emergency in February.

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