What’s Up in the Sky: March 2024
March 2024
What’s Up in the Sky
AAA Observers’ March Guide
March ’s Evening Planets:
Bright Jupiter will be in Aries the Ram until around 10 PM. Find Mercury in Pisces the Fish in the second half of March until around 8:30 PM. Uranus is between Cetus the Sea monster and Aries the Ram 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 the Bull, and bright Castor and Pollux in Gemini the Twins. 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:
Bright Venus and red Mars will be moving between Capricornus the Sea-goat and Aquarius the Water-bearer through the month as of 6 AM. Saturn will be in Aquarius the Water bearer as of 6 AM in the last week of the month. 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 the Twins, 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 3 Moon is ½ ° above Antares – Pre dawn
March 3 Third Quarter Moon 10:25 AM
March 7 Mars is 4° north of the Moon – Midnight
March 10 Moon at perigee (221,800 miles away)
March 10 New Moon at 5:00 AM
March 17 First Quarter Moon at 12:10 AM
March 19 Vernal Equinox at 11:10 PM
March 21 Venus is ½ ° above of Saturn
March 23 Moon at apogee (252,500 miles away)
March 25 Full Moon at 3:00 AM
March 25 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse, Maximum around 3:12 AM
March 27 Venus, Saturn, and Mars line up – Sunrise
Times given in EDT.
