Friday, March 17
Mercury reaches superior conjunction at 7 A.M. EDT. The small planet will return after sundown close to the tip of March.
The waning Moon means night skies are utterly clear for stargazing. After darkish, you’ll have a while to benefit from the wealthy treasures of the constellations Orion and Taurus, slowly setting within the west. Begin with Taurus, the present house of magnitude 0.7 Mars, located simply above a line drawn between Alheka and Elnath, which mark the ideas of the Bull’s horns. The Pink Planet shows a 7″-wide disk whose options is likely to be tough to discern by eye, although high-speed video seize could do the trick. Round 10 P.M. EDT, the darkish smudge of Sinus Meridiani is close to the middle of the disk, simply as Syrtis Main is rotating off and the lighter-colored Tharsis area is rotating on.
Some 25° beneath Mars is the Pleiades star cluster, straightforward to identify even with the bare eye. This grouping is usually referred to as the Seven Sisters for a cause — what number of of its stars are you able to see? Attempt wanting with averted imaginative and prescient, turning your gaze off to the facet and glimpsing the cluster out of the nook of your eye.
Simply east of Taurus within the sky is Orion the Hunter, whose nice nebula M42 is certainly one of observers’ favourite targets to take pleasure in. This massive star-forming area glows a delicate inexperienced when seen via a telescope and surrounds the 4 vivid stars of the Trapezium in its middle. These younger, scorching suns are within the means of blowing away the cloud that birthed them, abandoning a darker void of their quick neighborhood — are you able to see it via your scope?
Dawn: 7:09 A.M.
Sundown: 7:09 P.M.
Moonrise: 4:59 A.M.
Moonset: 2:15 P.M.
Moon Part: Waning crescent (22%)
*Occasions for dawn, sundown, moonrise, and moonset are given in native time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. native time from the identical location.
Saturday, March 18
It’s prime Messier marathon time! With a slim crescent Moon current for less than a short while earlier than dawn, that is the very best weekend of the yr to aim catching a glimpse of all 109 Messier objects in a single in a single day dash. In keeping with amateur astronomer Tom Polakis, skywatchers situated between 7° and 33° north latitude have the potential to attain each object this weekend. That vary is calculated by figuring out whether or not globular cluster M30 could be noticed simply earlier than dawn, in addition to open cluster M52’s altitude above the southern horizon.
In case you’re up for the problem, ensure you’re prepared with massive binoculars or a small scope shortly earlier than sundown. Nonetheless, don’t ever start utilizing any optical tools till the Solar has totally set out of your observing website, which is closely location dependent and could also be at a time barely completely different from that given beneath. Equally, ensure that to place down your optics earlier than dawn is about to start out of your location.
For a tried-and-true listing of Messier marathon targets, take a look at the late Don Machholz’s instructed search sequence. And when you aren’t up for a full marathon, former Astronomy columnist Glenn Chaple has an ideal quick listing of easy Messier objects to whet your urge for food, together with M35, M42, M44, M45, M81, and M82.
If climate or sleep deprivation prevents you from working the total marathon this weekend, don’t fear — subsequent weekend gives a backup alternative for many observers.
Dawn: 7:07 A.M.
Sundown: 7:10 P.M.
Moonrise: 5:43 A.M.
Moonset: 3:34 P.M.
Moon Part: Waning crescent (13%)
Sunday, March 19
Whether or not you’re nonetheless awake on the tail finish of your Messier marathon or just an early riser, there’s one other problem to do this morning within the predawn sky. About half an hour earlier than dawn, see when you can spot Saturn and the fragile crescent Moon rising collectively within the east.
Our satellite is lower than 10 % illuminated and a mere 2° excessive half-hour earlier than dawn. Saturn sits simply lower than 5.5° to its higher left (north-northeast), glowing softly at magnitude 0.9 and 4.5° excessive. You’ll seemingly want binoculars or a telescope to pick the ringed planet in opposition to the rapidly brightening sky. Its disk stretches about 15″ throughout, whereas its rings span greater than twice that distance. Once more, ensure that to cease utilizing any opticals a number of minutes earlier than the Solar is about to rise out of your location.
A number of hours later, the Moon will move 4° due south of Saturn at 11 A.M. EDT. Our satellite additionally reaches perigee, the closest level to Earth in its orbit, at 11:12 A.M. EDT. At the moment, Luna will sit 225,369 miles (362,696 kilometers) away.
Dawn: 7:05 A.M.
Sundown: 7:11 P.M.
Moonrise: 6:18 A.M.
Moonset: 4:52 P.M.
Moon Part: Waning crescent (6%)
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