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):