Week winds up wetter; threatens weekend astro fest
Enjoy these sunny skies while you can, because the forecast out of Sterling has us slated for a wet start to the month of April. Rain and shower chances rise to 70 percent by Wednesday night as the sunny, high-pressure air on top of us now gives way to an approaching cold front. That's the front attached to the big low that's dumping snow and rain over the Northern Plains.
There's another storm behind that one, reaching us by Friday evening. Both look pretty wet, which is a good thing:
"Both disturbances look to have solid PWAT [precipitable water] values / just above one inch / bringing continued needed rain to the region," Sterling said.
But it's not so good for the planned weekend celebrations of "100 Hours of Astronomy," events 
including those at the Community College of Baltimore County, both the Catonsville and Dundalk campuses. It's all part of this year's observance of the "International Year of Astronomy," which is in turn part of the 400th anniversary of Galileo's early discoveries with the telescope in 1609/10.
The public is invited to follow in Galileo's footsteps by having their own peek through telescopes - at the moon and Saturn in the evening, or Jupiter and (if you're lucky) Mars and Venus just before dawn. If you've never seen Saturn's rings with your own eyes, you're really missing a thrill.
Here are the hours:
CCBC Dundalk: Friday, April 3 from 8 to 11 p.m. (Call 410 282-3092 for weather cancellation information.)
CCBC Catonsville: All night, from 8 p.m. Saturday, April 4 through 6 a.m. Sunday, April 5. If you're not a nightowl, there's a free daytime lecture at the Banneker Planetarium on "Galileo: The Starry Messenger," at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 4. Also try...
Maryland Science Center: Telescope viewing from 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday April 3. (An earlier version of this post listed an incorrect date. I regret the error.)
Baltimore-Annapolis Trail: The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the Friends of Anne Arundel County Trails are sponsoring a daytime "Planet Walk," along the linear solar system installed on the trail. Experts will be stationed at each planet from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 4.
Howard Community College: The Howard Astronomical League will host daytime solar observations through sun-safe filtered telescopes, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 4.
