Take advantage of these next few days: we can still see Jupiter in the evening! It will then be necessary to wait a few months to find it in the evening. It is still visible at dusk very close to the western horizon, just after sunset. Otherwise Mars is still clearly visible in the first part of the night in the constellation of Taurus and Gemini. A nice rapprochement between the red planet and the Moon is to be noted on March 28, 2023.
Regarding Venus, it will shine brightly on the western horizon after sunset and you will be able to admire it more on March 24 when our Evening Star approaches the Moon. For Mercury, you will have to wait until early April to start seeing it again in the evening with Venus. It will be most easily observable on the western horizon between April 10 and 15.
Beautiful constellations to observe
The spring or autumn constellations, depending on the hemisphere, are coming! This month, a small focus on the constellation du Lion which will be very high in the sky or even just above your heads. To find the Lion, start from the Big Dipper. Take the 2 leftmost stars of the pan and draw a line under the pan about 40° and you will come to a very bright star, the star Regulus. From there, you should see a large set of stars that will make you think of an iron with its electric wire or the body of a lying animal with its tail marked by the star Denebola. This constellation is also interesting for its wealth of galaxies, some visible with binoculars and others with a telescope. We can talk about the galaxies Messier 65 and 66 in the hind legs of the lion towards the star Chertan, or the magnificent galaxy NGC 2903 not far from the head of the Lion. Small reminder NGC stands for New General Catalog, it’s just a huge catalog with many deep sky objects.
Small challenge for our listeners: the Messier Catalog
March-April is the right time to tackle at the Messier Marathon. This marathon aims to observe in a single night the 110 objects of the Messier Catalog. Galaxy, nebula, open and globular cluster, this catalog is very rich and it is an excellent way to learn about your sky than to tackle this marathon. With a pair of binoculars, you will see a few dozen and you will need a telescope to observe them all. It remains a complicated challenge, but it is a good source of motivation to try to flush out all these objects observed more than 2 centuries ago by Charles Messier.
A new astronomical telescope to be won
I remind you that a new astronomical telescope is once again put into play thanks to our partners SSVI and RFI. To participate, send on our page Facebook Astronomy Africa your most beautiful photos or video or even a nice text that you have written. The winner will be announced on April 15. Good observations. Good heavens to all and remember, the sky is the biggest screen, just look up.