February | 2026 | Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association

So, I Bought a SeeStar!: Basic Skills for the ZWO SeeStar S30 and S50

Open for Enrollment – Stephen Ferris, Instructor
Place: TIMPA Date: Thursday, May 7, 2026 Time: 7:00pm until completed.

Synopsis: ZWO SeeStars are a hot item for Amateur Astronomers both new and experienced. They combine good optics, a lot of automation and a user-friendly interface with entry level prices. This workshop will cover the basic use of both the SeeStar S50 and the SeeStar S30. It is open to both current SeeStar owners and those who are considering buying a SeeStar. If you have a SeeStar of either design, please bring it with you, fully charged. The instructor will walk you through basic procedures for using your equipment. Don’t forget to bring your phone or the tablet that you use to control it!

This training is ZWO SeeStar specific. If you are interested in a workshop for another kind of
SmartScope, please contact Stephen at the email address or number below.
If you are interested in joining us, please contact the instructor, Stephen Ferris: email, Text: 520
661-5355

SmartScopes and Snacks!

Pot Luck and Meet and Greet for All SmartScope Users at TIMPA!
Place: TIMPA Date: Saturday, May 9, 2026 Time: 7:00 PM until whenever
This TIMPA event is open to all SmartScope users of all levels of experience, plus anyone who
might be interested in getting a SmartScope. We’ll get started with a pot luck dinner social around
7:00 pm. (The sun sets late. Expect warm temperatures.) Bring some images and techniques to
share with the group! We would love to hear about any use of any SmartScopes that you might
have. Then, if weather permits, we’ll do some viewing after it gets dark until whenever.
I will provide water, sodas, basic paper plates and plastic utensils. You are not at all required to
bring food, but if you do, we expect about 10-12 people. I will notify everyone if we get more!
Please RSVP to Stephen Ferris, TIMPA Director, at email Text: 520-661-5355 by May 1.
If SmartScopes are at all of interest to you (or even if they are not), we would love to have you
come out and join us!

By Erich Karkoschka

There will be a TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE on the morning of March 3rd. Partial phase begins at 2:50 am (Tucson) and ends at 6:18 during dawn. Totality last for one hour starting at 4:04 am. The moon will be about 10 degrees to the upper left of Regulus and not much brighter than the star at mid totality. The next two Total Lunar Eclipses visible in Tucson — in 2029 will be only partially visible during twilight. The next good one will be in 2033.

Mercury and Venus are visible all month at dusk low in the west.

Mercury is easier to see than Venus until the 20th. At mid-month, one can find Venus 8 degrees below Mercury. Mercury moves further north while Venus moves faster eastward, so that by the 26th, Mercury is 5 degrees to the right of Venus but 5 magnitudes fainter than Venus. On the 19th, Mercury is 50% illuminated. Toward the end of the month, both planets are about the same size, but Mercury is a crescent while Venus is fully illuminated.

Saturn is higher than Venus, by the end of the month only 8 degrees higher. On March 8, it will be 1 degree to the left of Venus. This is the last time in the next 12 years that Saturn’s rings show as a thin line on both sides of Saturn’s sphere.

Jupiter transits 81 degrees high around 10 pm. On the 18th, Ganymede’s shadow moves across the disk until 10 pm.

Neptune is only .9 degrees north of Saturn around the 15th. This is the closest both planets have been during the last 35 years, and the same holds true until 2061.

Uranus is 70 degrees high at dusk. It can be easily located in binoculars 5 degrees south of the Pleiades.