March Night Skies

 A brief overview of what to see in the sky with the unaided eye during March evenings:

Stars and Constellations

Some prominent constellations visible in the evening sky are Leo and Ursa Major (containing the Big Dipper star group) 

● Leo, rising higher in the southeastern sky, is dominated by the bright star Regulus

● The Big Dipper and Ursa Major are rising high in the northeastern sky 

● The winter Milky Way and bright constellations of Gemini, Auriga and Orion are in the western sky

● East of Orion are the bright stars Sirius and Procyon with the constellations of Canis Major and Canis Minor, low in the southwestern sky

 

Planets

●   Mercury becomes visible with difficulty during the last week of March, very low in the eastern sky before sunrise

●   Venus shines brightly very low in the western sky after sunset

●   Mars is not practically visible, remaining close to the sun’s position in the sky

●   Jupiter is visible high in the southern sky (nearly overhead) in the Gemini constellation

●   Saturn is visible very low in the western sky shortly after sunset during the first week of March, especially when very close to Venus during the evenings of March 6-8, and then will be not practically visible

 

Moon Phases 

●     Full Moon March 3, 06:38 EST

●     Last Quarter Moon March 11, 05:39 EDT

●     New Moon March 18, 21:23 EDT

●     First Quarter Moon March 25, 15:18 EDT

 

Sky Resources Online

Some website resources for sky charts, weekly sky events, and more information:

●     astrogeo.ca/skylights

●     www.heavens-above.com

●     In-the-sky.org

●     www.skyandtelescope.org

●     www.skymaps.com

Noteworthy Sky Events

 ●     March 3: Total lunar eclipse shortly before sunrise. Although the total eclipse begins a few minutes after 6 am EST, lunar eclipses are interesting to watch as they progress through partial eclipse toward the total phase. Beginning to watch every few minutes around 5:30 am, when the eclipse is about halfway through the partial eclipse, allows the viewer to follow the progression of the eclipse until the total phase begins low above the western horizon and then if the sky is not perfectly clear, it may become more difficult to see the eclipsed moon as it sinks toward the horizon and sets a little after 6:30 am. (Exact times depend on the observer’s location. These times are for sky viewers in Pickering.) One other detail which may help is that binoculars will enhance the view, especially as the darkened, eclipsed moon gets dimmer as it gets lower in the western sky.

 ●     March 6, 7 & 8: Venus and Saturn appear very close together low in the western sky after sunset 

●     March 20, 10:46 EDT: Vernal equinox (spring begins)

Monthly Sky Chart for mid-March, mid-evening (courtesy of www.heavens-above.com):

 

 

February Night Skies

A brief overview of what to see in the night sky with the unaided eye during February evenings:

Stars and Constellations

Some prominent constellations visible in the evening sky are Leo and Ursa Major (containing the Big Dipper star group)

● Leo, rising higher in the southeastern sky, is dominated by the bright star Regulus

● The Big Dipper and Ursa Major are rising high in the northeastern sky

● Two bright stars in Leo are Regulus, at the western end (and at the base of the backward “question mark”), and Denebola, at the eastern end of Leo

● South of Regulus is the red star Alphard, in the less prominent constellation Hydra

Planets

●   Mercury becomes visible low in the western evening sky during mid and late February and reaches greatest eastern elongation from the sun February 19

●   Venus becomes visible low in the western sky following sunset around mid-February

●   Mars is not practically visible and remains close to the sun’s position

●   Jupiter shines brightly in the southeastern sky during early evening during early February and high in the southern sky later in the month in the Gemini constellation

●   Saturn is briefly visible low in the west-southwestern sky after sunset in the Pisces constellation

Moon Phases

●   Full Moon February 1, 17:09 EST

●   Last Quarter Moon February 9, 07:43 EST

●   New Moon February 17, 07:01 EST

●   First Quarter Moon February 24, 07:27 EST

Sky Resources Online

Some web resources for sky charts, weekly sky events, and more info:

●    astrogeo.ca/skylights

●    www.heavens-above.com

●    In-the-sky.org

●    www.skyandtelescope.org

●    www.skymaps.com

Noteworthy Sky Events

●   Feb. 2: full moon occults the bright star Regulus in the Leo constellation

●   Feb. 18: Venus, Mercury and very thin crescent moon close together low in the western sky after sunset

Monthly Sky Chart for mid-February, mid-evening (courtesy of www.heavens-above.com):