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TONIGHT'S SKY
Tonight's Sky
The sky is not a painting, it's a movie. Stars pulse, flare, some explode as supernova, asteroids whiz by the earth, new comets appear in the sky, Aurora sets the northern skies ablaze and meteors streak through Earth's atmosphere.
See Hubble site Tonight's Sky highlights of this months night sky movie with narration below. Click on photo below.
See: Use your hand to find degrees
NASA Night Sky Network Planner
The AstroPlanner free download.
Download a free starmap at: Skymaps
Download a free Planetarium for your computer at: Hallo Northern Sky
March 14th Daylight Savings Time begins at 2 AM. Turn clocks forward one hour.
March 20th Spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere at 1:32 PM EDT.
The Full Moon for March
Full Worm Moon - March As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.
| Last Quarter Moon | March 7 | 10:45 am EST |
| New Moon | March 15 | 5:01 pm EDT |
| First Quarter Moon | March 23 | 7:00 am EDT |
| Full Moon | March 29 | 10:25 pm EDT |
The Planets Visibility for March
Mercury
Mercury on March 14th the planet is at superior conjunction as it enters the evening sky. Mercury's speed and the tilt of the ecliptic will allow it to be observed with low power binoculars within a week and by naked eye the last week of the month.
Venus
Venus is at midmonth magnitude -3.9, diameter 10.0" to 10.5", phase 98% to 95% lit) Venus is prominent in the western sky at dusk.
Mars
Mars at midmonth is magnitude -0.6 to +0.1, diameter 12.1" to 9.3"), Mars is in Cancer, it dramatically fades during the month, as Earth moves farther away. Mars will be stationary on March 11, resuming direct motion (moving east with respect to the stars).
Well worth checking this view of the polar cap
out.
To see which part of the
surface is visible at any time, check out the
Mars
Profiler at Sky & Telescope Magazine's web page.
JUPITER
Jupiter at midmonth is at magnitude -2.0, diameter 33.0" to 33.5") and is in Aquarius. It is in conjunction with the Sun. At end of month it will appears in the morning sky.
Check out Sky & Telescope's Jupiter Moons Utility for other configurations. Sky and Telescope Red Spot Calculator
SATURN
Saturn at midmonth is at magnitude +0.6, diameter 19.4" to 19.5") and is in western Virgo. Saturn is at opposition on the 21st. See: Saturn's moons locations
URANUS
Uranus is at midmonth is at magnitude +5.9, diameter 3.3") and is in Pisces. It is in conjunction with the Sun on the 17th and lost to view this month
NEPTUNE
Neptune is at midmonth is at magnitude +8.0, diameter 2.2"), now in the morning sky, moves from Capricornus into Aquarius on the 23rd.
Dwarf Planets
Pluto
Pluto is at magnitude +14.0, diameter 0.1")it is still in western Sagittarius
Bright Asteroids
4 Vesta
4 Vesta at magnitude: 7.0 at midmonth is located in the constellation Leo the Lion. See: Sky & Telescope
March comets brighter than 10th magnitude based on current estimates for northern hemisphere observers
81P/Wild
81P/Wild is at estimated magnitude 9.6 midmonth located in the constellation Virgo.
C/2009 O2 ( Catalina )
C/2009 O2 ( Catalina ) Look for this comet to brighten to 9.0 magnitude end of month and on the 29th very close to 57-Gamma1 Andromedae in the constellation Andromeda.
For more on Comets and locations see: Seiichi Yoshida web site here.
MARCH METEORS
No major meteor showers this month.
Some local links below to Heavens Above satellite information website.
Satellites visible from Hanover
Satellites visible from Gettysburg
Satellites visible from Lancaster
Satellites visible from Baltimore
Satellites visible from Harrisburg
The Sun
The dial below is linked live to the Ace Spacecraft. If the dial on the left (Magnetic Field) has dipped below zero, the speed is high and the dial dynamic pressure is in the yellow/red, be alert for Aurora. Anytime the gauges are in the Red and the dial on the left, the Magnetic Field BZ has dipped to the yellow-red... Aurora will be occurring in our area. Below link to the REAL TIME SOLAR WIND
Solar Wind Dials
See Hubble Tonight's Sky site.