On Friday March 26th the inner planet Venus will have moved into superior conjunction – on the opposite side of the Sun from the Earth. Venus will reappear on the east side of the Sun later next month and start becoming visible in the evening skies over the western horizon.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
Saturday March 27th is the annual Earth Hour celebration. Started in 2007 the Earth Hour celebration is a world-wide citizen-powered effort to call attention to our planet’s environment and the need to better take care of our home (our only home).
Earth Hour, although one hour, is an ongoing effort to encourage taking action about climate change as well as the destruction of nature and decreases in biodiversity.
So on Saturday evening March 27th, at 8:30 pm (your local time), turn the electrically powered lights off in your house for one hour. But don’t stop there. Act locally and think globally! Get involved – stay involved.
With lights out this may be a good time to step outside, weather permitting, and take a look at what could possibly be darker night skies with lights off in your neighborhood. Mars is visible high above the southern horizon near the stars of Taurus the Bull, however this year the light from the full Moon will brighten the skies.
Watch this short video story “There Once Was A Sky Full of Stars”.
From the Earth Hour web site:
Our first-ever Earth Hour “Virtual Spotlight”
Over the years, the lights-off moment saw entire streets, buildings, landmarks, and city skylines go dark – an unmissable sight that drew public attention to nature loss and the climate crisis.
This year – amidst the current global circumstances – in addition to switching off your lights, we also invite you to raise awareness and create the same unmissable sight online, so that the world sees our planet, the issues we face, and our place within it, in a new light.
That’s us, and we have a home that is danger from not only climate change, the destruction of nature, and decreases in biodiversity, but our only home is also losing to the demands of an increasing population and its effect on the local environment. At the 8 Billion Angels web site there is information about the effect a growing population is having on our planet. Be sure to watch the video trailer and perhaps consider organizing a community viewing.
Continue learning about our impact on the Earth by visiting the 8 Billion Angels companion web site Earth Overshoot.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
I was looking at this picture from the other evening I got to thinking about the Rovers on Mars would see if they looked toward the Earth?
So as you wonder about that question, here is a look at Mars, by NASA, from last century (I love saying that instead of many years ago!), using data from the first Mars Orbiters. Take a simulated fly over the Martian surface above Mariner Valley and the large Martian volcanoes. Appropriately titled “Mars, the Movie”.
What would Earth look like from the surface of Mars?
Here is a picture of Earth taken by the Rover Curiosity.
Here is what it looks like using Starry Night Pro 8+ software to model the view from the latitude and longitude of the Perseverance Rover landing site in Jezero Crater, (18.4446°N 77.4509°E).
(The viewing location is correct however for depicting the Martian surface my software uses a view at the landing site for the Sojourner Rover.)
Friday evening March 19th look for the 6.7-day old waxing crescent Moon to be about 3o from the ‘Red Planet’ Mars, and about 5-6o from the reddish star Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull. All three should just barely fit within the field of view of 7×50 binoculars.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
Apogee – Descending Node – Conjunction with the Pleiades
Apogee Moon
Our Moon reaches apogee, (furthest from Earth), for this orbit, on Thursday March 18th. For this apogee the 6.6-day old waxing crescent Moon will be at a distance of 31.77 Earth diameters, 251,841 miles (405,300 km) from the Earth.
Descending Node
The 6.6-day old waxing crescent Moon crosses the plane of the ecliptic moving south. This is known as the descending node, one of two intersections the Moon’s orbital path (dark green line) has with the ecliptic.
Conjunction with the Pleiades
The apogee Moon, at nearly first quarter phase, will be above the western horizon and will be within a few degrees from the open star cluster the Pleiades. This should make for a good view with binoculars.
Does our Moon actually go around the Earth as this graphic shows? From our perspective on the Earth the Moon appears to circle around the Earth. However, in reality, the Moon orbits the Sun together with the Earth*
*Click here to read my Scope on the Sky column “The Real Shape of the Moon’s Orbit”. (PDF)
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
Wednesday March 10th the outer ringed planet Neptune will reach a point in its respective orbit where Neptune will be on the opposite side of the Sun as viewed from here on Earth. Neptune, or any of the other outer planets (Mars to Neptune), dwarf planets, or small solar system bodies beyond the Earth’s orbit, will all eventually reach this position on the opposite side of the Sun known as solar conjunction.
For the two inner planets, Mercury and Venus, when they are at a similar position on the opposite side of the Sun, they are at superior conjunction.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, March 9th and 10th, the thin waning crescent Moon wil be passing by the planets Saturn. Jupiter, and the inner planet Mercury. On the 9th the 26-day old waning crescent Moon will be about 3-4o from Saturn and on the 10th the 28-day old Moon will be about 4-5o and about 6-7o from Mercury.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
On Saturday March 6th Mercury, the innermost planet, will reach its orbital position known as greatest western elongation at 27.3o. At that moment Mercury, the Sun, and the Earth, would be arranged in something close to approximating a right angle as this graphic shows. Even though it sounds confusing, at western elongation for either Mercury or Venus the inner planet will be to the right of the Sun as we view them, meaning that at western elongation an inner planet rises in the east before the Sun rises. And at eastern elongation with the inner planet on the left side of the Sun the inner planet follows the Sun across the sky setting after the Sun sets.
From our perspective the orbits of Mercury and Venus appear to move from one side of the Sun to the other – out to the left (east) from the Sun to eastern elongation, then reverse and move westward (inferior conjunction) between the Earth and the Sun to western elongation. From there the inner planet moves eastward going behind the Sun (superior conjunction) and eventually reappearing on the eastern side of the Sun for an eastern elongation. Repeat over and over – do not stop!
Mercury is currently visible in the morning skies before the Sun rises. This inner planet is steadily moving past Jupiter after having passed by Saturn last week.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
Over the next several mornings the innermost planet, Mercury, will be moving past the planet Jupiter, coming the closest on March 4th in the hour or so before the Sun rises.
In the same field of view as Mercury and Jupiter is Comet Tempel (10P) a periodic comet that has a 5-year orbit around the Sun. This comet is one of the many comets that is part of the Jupiter family of comets. Tempel (10P) is currently about 2.5 from the Sun and shining at about 10th magnitude. Too faint for the unaided eye or binoculars but possibly visible with a large enough aperture telescope and certainly visible with time exposure pictures.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
The planet Mars has been steadily orbiting eastward and is currently moving past the open star cluster the Pleiades. On Wednesday evening March 3rd Mars will be at its closest to the Pleiades coming within about 3-4o from the open star cluster as it passes by.
Mars and the Pleiades on March 2nd.
Mars near the Pleiades and the Hyades on March 3rd.
Mars near the Pleiades and the Hyades on March 4th.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces.
