BACKYARD STARGAZER: Spring into stargazing this month
By Francis Parnell
It’s March and spring is almost here!
Looking southeast 20 minutes before sunrise today, you couldn’t miss dazzling Venus with red Mars about 7 degrees below right. Below left and low on the east-southeast horizon, Saturn and Mercury are only about 1 degree apart. You’ll need a clear horizon to spot these two planets.
On the 8th, be sure to catch the crescent Moon in Taurus, the Bull, directly between the Pleiades, a few degrees to the right, and Aldebaran, the Eye of the Bull, a few degrees to the left.
At 8 p.m. on the 15th, look east to observe the waxing gibbous Moon 4 degrees upper left of Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, the Lion.
Be sure to catch the full Worm Moon rising on the 18th, so named because the weather is warming up and earthworms are coming out of the ground.
The Sun is at the Equinox, directly over the Equator, on the 20th at 11:33 a.m. and spring officially begins in the northern hemisphere and autumn in the southern hemisphere.
Just before sunrise on the 23rd, look south and you’ll see the waning gibbous Moon gleaming 2 degrees above red Antares, the Scorpion’s heart. The Moon averages 238,860 miles away while Antares is 550 light-years away. That’s 550 times 5.9 trillion miles (1 light-year) or 3,245,000,000,000,000 miles from Earth! That’s 3 quadrillion, 245 trillion miles!
If it’s clear on the 28th, this is a good morning to get up and catch a close grouping of planets! Looking southeast 45 minutes before sunrise, dazzling white Venus, red Mars, and Saturn are arrayed in a triangle with Venus about 2 degrees above Saturn and Mars about 4 degrees right of Venus.
Completing the view is the waning crescent Moon hanging below the planetary trio! A really great morning to stargaze.
FAST FACT: Light pollution is increasing at an alarming rate with cities installing white light LEDs that turn night into perpetual twilight 24/7/365. All nocturnal creatures, including humans, aren’t designed for short wavelength white-light-at-night. Become a citizen scientist and help track light pollution in your area by going to Globe at Night (GaN) www.globeatnight.org.