In March the iconic winter constellations continue to dominate the southern evening sky. Whether you’ve seen them or not, this is a prime year to enjoy them, since the assembly now includes brilliant Jupiter, the beacon above Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus, the bull; and Mars, which shines east of Jupiter, next to the Gemini twin stars Pollux and Castor. And as always, Sirius, the brightest of stars, anchors the group.
In the west, Venus drops into the sun’s afterglow in mid-month. With a clear view of the horizon, you may spot Mercury to the lower left of Venus right at nightfall for a few days starting around Friday, the 7th. Mercury climbs to match Venus’s altitude, but the sunset soon swallows the planetary pair.
In the east, the spring constellation Leo, the lion, gains altitude throughout the month. Look for the lion’s head; it’s outlined by a backward question mark of stars called the Sickle, with Regulus, its brightest star, at the base. On the 11th, a waxing moon will be close above Regulus.
March’s full moon undergoes a total eclipse the morning of the 14th. The moon starts to enter the Earth’s umbra, or dark inner shadow, at 12:09 a.m. Totality lasts from 1:26 a.m. to 2:31 a.m., with deepest eclipse at 1:59 a.m. The moon breaks free of the umbra at 3:48 a.m. Throughout the event, the moon will be in the southern sky, moving from southeast to southwest.
Spring arrives with the equinox at 4:01 p.m. on the 20th. At that moment the sun moves into the northern sky and Earth will be lighted from pole to pole. Also, because the sun gains altitude fastest near the spring equinox, the day length increases fastest at this time, too. In Minnesota the increase is close to three minutes a day.
The University of Minnesota offers public viewings of the night sky at its Duluth and Twin Cities campuses. For more information, see:
• Duluth, Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium: www.d.umn.edu/planet.
• Twin Cities, Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics: www.astro.umn.edu/outreach/pubnight.
• Check out astronomy programs, free telescope events, and planetarium shows at the University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum: www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/astronomy.
• Find U of M astronomers and links to the world of astronomy at: http://www.astro.umn.edu.