What’s Up in the Sky – March 2023

March’s Evening Planets:

Find Venus in Pisces the Fish in the until around 8 PM for the first half of March, and in Aries the Ram until 10 PM for the rest of the month. Find Mercury in Pisces the last week of March until around 8 PM. Red Mars will be up all night moving between Taurus the Bull and Gemini the Twins. Jupiter will be in Pisces until 8 PM.

Uranus is in Cetus the Sea monster until around 11 PM.

March’s Evening Stars:

The Winter Triangle will be up until around midnight this month: Sirius, the brightest star viewed from Earth, is in Canis Major the Great Dog; Betelgeuse is in Orion the Hunter; and Procyon is in Canis Minor the Small Dog. Spot Capella in Auriga the Charioteer, Spica in Virgo the Maiden, Arcturus in Boötes the Herdsman, Aldebaran in Taurus, and bright Castor and Pollux in Gemini. Also find the stars of constellations Cassiopeia, Perseus, Cepheus, Leo, Hydra, Draco, Hercules, and Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (the Big and Little Dippers).

March’s Morning Planets:

Saturn will be in Aquarius the Water bearer as of 6 AM. Dwarf Pluto will be in Sagittarius the Archer as of 5 AM and lingering until sunrise.

March’s Morning Stars:

The Summer Triangle of Vega in Lyra the Harp, Deneb in Cygnus the Swan, and Altair in Aquila the Eagle will be up until sunrise. Look for reddish Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion, Castor and Pollux in Gemini, Arcturus in Boötes the Herdsman, and Spica in Virgo the Maiden, along with the stars of constellations Leo, Hercules, Libra, Cancer, Cassiopeia, Ophiuchus, Cepheus, Draco, and Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (the Big and Little Dippers).

March Skylights

March   1  Venus and Jupiter conjunction – Sunset

March   3  Moon at apogee (252,200 miles away)

March   7  Full Moon at 7:40 AM

March 10  Jupiter, Venus and Mars line up – Sunset

March 14  Third Quarter Moon 10:10 PM

March 19  Moon at perigee (225,400 miles away)

March 20  Vernal Equinox at 5:25 PM

March 21  New Moon at 1:20 PM

March 28  First Quarter Moon at 10:30 AM

March 31  Moon at apogee (251,600 miles away)

Times given in EDT.