Sky Watch - March 2007
by Julene Packer

The Vernal Equinox occurs this month heralding in the spring season (winter in the southern hemisphere). Preceding that event we have a few others: a lunar eclipse, solar eclipse, and a couple lunar occultations. Venus dazzles us with her brilliant presence in the western sky in the early evening. Saturn rises in the east in early evening and travels to the western sky by morning. Jupiter rises later in the night and remains visible until dawn. Mercury and Mars are visible in the morning eastern sky.

Daylight Savings Time

Also, don't forget the new daylight savings plan is in effect. Those who spring ahead a time zone will be doing so on March 11th at 2:00 a.m. this year. This is three weeks earlier than we used to do it! Since Mercury will be direct by then, hopefully most of us will remember and not show up an hour late for work.

Mercury stations direct on March 7th at 11:45 p.m. EDT. Mercury reaches greatest eastern elongation on the 21st at 10:00 p.m. EDT. Therefore on the mornings of the 21st and 22nd, Mercury will be furthest above the sunrise.

Equinox Fun

At the vernal equinox, the sun reaches the intersection of the Celestial Equator and Ecliptic Plane in the east. This happens precisely at 8:08 p.m. EDT on March 20th. The tropical zodiac degree the sun enters at this time is 00 Aries and the declination of the Sun is 0 North. This is one of two days a year where we have equal daylight and equal night. This equality allows us to be able to balance an egg on end on our kitchen counter top! So after supper on March 20th, get out a raw egg and try something you can't do again until the autumn equinox.

Total Lunar Eclipse - March 3rd

This eclipse is visible from western Asia through Europe and across most of the Americas. It's about time too! The United States and Canada have not seen a total lunar eclipse since 2004. So mark your calendar for this date and get out there! The eclipse begins at 4:16 p.m. EDT when the Moon enters the Earth's penumbral shadow (before moonrise in the US and Canada). The Moon enters the earth's umbral shadow at 5:30 p.m. EDT. Totally occurs from 6:20 p.m. EDT until 7:58 p.m. EDT. (During this time the Moon rises over eastern US and Canada) The Moon leaves the umbral shadow of Earth at 9:11 p.m. EDT. The eclipse ends when the moon leaves the earth's penumbral shadow at 10:25 p.m. EDT. (Observers in the pacific time zone will catch the end of the eclipse.)

Partial Solar Eclipse - March 18th

The partial eclipse of the Sun is visible over Alaska, western Russia, central and eastern Asia. The Moon begins to cover the sun's disk at 8:38 p.m. EDT. The greatest eclipse (where the most of the sun is covered) occurs at 10:32 p.m. EDT. The eclipse ends at 12:24 a.m. EDT on March 19th.

The Moon Occults Saturn - Twice!

On March 1st at 9:12 p.m. EDT the Moon conjuncts Saturn. This conjunction is an occultation because the Moon will actually pass in front of Saturn from our geocentric viewpoint, and block Saturn from sight. This can be observed on March 2nd in Europe and western Russia. However the pair will set before making it to the western British Isles and Europe below.

The second occultation of Saturn by the Moon occurs on the 29th at 12:55 a.m. EDT and this time the northern British Isles can observe the event. Visibility of this occultation also occurs over northern Scandinavia, eastern Greenland and the North Atlantic Ocean.

The Moon Occults Mercury - On March 17th

Unless your St. Patrick's Day celebration has you drinking green beer in the ocean south of New Zealand, this occultation will have to be imagined. :-)

Planet Watching in the Northern Hemisphere

As the evening twilight encroaches, the first 'star' to appear will actually be the planet Venus. Look above the western horizon to find the brilliant planet that outshines everything in the night sky.

At the beginning of March, Venus will set around 8:15 p.m. among the stars in the middle of the constellation Pisces. On the evening of the 20th, locate Venus above a slender crescent of a newer moon. The following evening, Venus will lie below the Moon. The two bright stars to the left of Venus at this time (though she outshines them) will be Sheratan and Hamal of Aries. On the 22nd she lies next to Sheratan and on the 26th she lies next to Hamal. By month's end, Venus will set around 10:15 p.m. (daylight time) among the stars of Aries.

After Venus pops into view with the setting sun, the next star to pop into view will be Sirius of Canis Major in the north. Following Sirius will be the appearance of Regulus of Leo with the planet Saturn just above. Regulus and Saturn will be above the eastern horizon. Planets and stars pop into view in order of brightness. The brighter the object, the sooner it can shine through the twilight. Saturn will lie just above the Moon on March 1st. On March 2nd Regulus will be above the Moon. The Moon joins Saturn again on the 28th and Regulus on the 29th.

Saturn will remain visible all night long. Saturn rises before the sun sets so it takes the darkening sky to show his position above the eastern horizon. Saturn sets around 5:45 a.m. at the beginning of March and around 4:45 a.m. (daylight time) by month's end.

Below is a sky map on the evening of March 21st at 8:00 p.m.

Rising around 2:00 a.m. at the beginning of March, Jupiter is the first of the morning planets to rise. By month's end Jupiter will rise around 1:15 a.m. (daylight time). Jupiter is traveling among the stars of the constellation Scorpio, near the foot of Ophiuchus. To his upper left will be Antares. On the morning of the 11th, look for Jupiter above to the Moon. At 7:00 a.m. the pair will be nearly due south. (daylight time, this is the morning where the sun will rise an hour later than the day before.) Most of the stars will be blotted from view by the morning sunrise, but Antares will still be visible to the upper left of the Moon and lower left of Jupiter. The Moon joins Antares on the morning of the 12th.

The next morning planet to rise is Mars. Mars rises around 5:00 a.m. at the beginning of the month below the star Dabih, the base of the sea goat's horn. He travels though the much of constellation Capricornus this month. Mars is joined by the Moon on the morning of the 15th. On the morning of the 28th he will be above Deneb Algiedi, the sea goat's tail star. Mars will rise around 5:15 a.m. (daylight time) at the end of March.

The last planet to rise is Mercury the innermost planet that can never stray more than 28 degrees from the sun. Mercury rises around 6:00 a.m. at the beginning of March among the stars of the constellation Aquarius. On the morning of the 16th at 6:30 a.m. (daylight time), look to the east-southeast horizon and locate the Moon. Mercury will be to the left of the Moon and Mars will be above. By month's end, Mercury will still rise around 6:00 a.m. (daylight time) and be much further through the constellation Aquarius.

Below is a sky map of the morning sky on March 16th at 5:45 a.m.

Moon Data

	3rd: Full Moon at 6:17 p.m. EST - Total Lunar Eclipse
	6th: Moon reaches apogee at 10:37 p.m. EST - 252,186 miles from Earth
	11th: Last Quarter Moon at 11:54 p.m. EDT
	18th: New Moon at 10:43 p.m. EDT - Partial Solar Eclipse
	19th: Moon reaches perigee at 2:39 p.m. EDT - 222,335 miles from Earth
	25th: First Quarter Moon at 2:16 p.m. EDT

© Julene Packer, 2007