2024-02-21 05:19:45
Astronomical spring begins: There is a lot to discover in the night sky in March. These stars and planets appear in the firmament.
In March, Jupiter in the constellation Aries dominates the first hours of the night with its brilliance: as the brightest planet, it shines unmistakably in the western sky. However, the visibility time shortens drastically over the course of the month, as its setting times are around one and a half hours earlier. At the beginning of March, the giant planet sets at 11:32 p.m., and at the end of the month at 10:07 p.m. – that corresponds to 11:07 p.m. summer time, which begins on March 31st. On the evening of the 13th, the crescent moon passes Jupiter – a nice sight in the sky around 7:15 p.m.
Mercury, which is close to the sun, rarely appears. But in March, the shy planet offers the best visibility in the evening sky of the entire year. From the middle of the month it is worth keeping an eye out for Mercury. In the increasing darkness it becomes visible around 7 p.m. just above the western horizon as a pale, yellowish point of light. Mercury will be relatively easy to spot until March 26th. Mercury sets at 8:30 p.m. But a quarter of an hour beforehand it becomes invisible in the layers of haze near the horizon.
With a diameter of 4,878 kilometers, Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system. As the closest planet to the sun, it travels around the sun in just three months. Mercury has no atmosphere. During the day, the surface, scarred by impact craters, heats up to 427 degrees Celsius. On Mercury night the temperature drops to minus 183 degrees. The globe of Mercury rotates around its axis once every 59 days, and the sun rises over the barren landscape of Mercury every 176 days.
Moon: Penumbral eclipse in some parts of the world
Venus says goodbye to the morning sky in March. It follows the sun and switches completely to the daytime sky in the last third of the month. It then remains unobservable to the naked eye.
Mars transits through Capricorn and moves into the constellation Aquarius on the 19th. The reddish planet cannot assert itself in the morning sky. Because when it rises in the morning it is already so bright that it fades. Saturn also cannot yet free itself from the sun’s rays and remains invisible.
The new moon phase will be reached at 10:00 a.m. on March 10th. On the same day, the moon is 356,895 kilometers away from Earth. The coincidence of the new moon and proximity to the earth leads to spring tides on the sea coasts, even two or three days before and after the exact date of the new moon.
The full moon occurs at 8:00 a.m. on the 25th, with the moon in the constellation of Virgo. 98 percent of the full moon is immersed in the Earth’s penumbra. This penumbral eclipse of the Moon can be observed in North and South America, parts of Antarctica and the eastern part of the Pacific. Central Europe, on the other hand, is left empty-handed. On the 23rd, the moon is 406,294 kilometers away from Earth.
The spring constellations rise in the eastern sky
The end of winter can also be seen in the starry sky. The striking winter constellation Orion and the bluish, sparkling Sirius in Canis Major have moved to the southwest. Sirius attracts attention as the brightest fixed star in the earth’s sky.
The parade of spring images has begun in the eastern sky. The lion, the guiding star of spring, begins its leap through the meridian. According to Greek legend, it is the mighty lion of Nemea that harasses the residents there. No arrow can penetrate the lion’s skin. But the hero Hercules manages to defeat the lion by strangling him. Both are transported to heaven for eternal memory.