March is here and spring is just around the corner. We will soon be saying goodbye to some of our
favorite winter constellations, but there are still many great opportunities to
view these easily identifiable groups of stars. Also March will offer excellent
opportunities to view three planets in both the early evening and morning
skies.
The best time viewing is usually at least an hour after
sunset to an hour before sunrise. Sunset
in Battle Creek is at 6:31 PM on March 1st and will shift ahead one hour on the
10th due to the return to Daylight Saving Time. By the end of March our sunset will be all
the way to 8:06 PM! Sunrise starts the
month off at 7:16 AM and will be at 7:25 AM by month’s end.
The moon will be new on March 11th and our next
full moon, dubbed the “Worm Moon”, will be on March 27th.
The zodiac constellations Gemini and Cancer will dominate
our early evening skies. Gemini is
easily identifiable by its twin stars Castor and Pollox. Unfortunately the stars in Cancer are the
faintest in the entire zodiac and may be difficult to view in town with light
pollution. Orion, with its distinctive
belt of three stars, is one of the easiest constellations to identify. It is gradually moving west but can still be
found high on the horizon. Follow the
belt straight up to Aldeberan, the orange bulls eye of Taurus, and keep going
to find the beautiful seven sisters of the Pleiades. Follow the belt down to Canis Major and its
bright star Sirius. See if you can find
the Winter Triangle, an almost equilateral triangle, made by Sirius, Betelguese
in Orion, and Procyon in Canis Minor.
These are three of the top ten brightest stars visible in the Northern
Hemisphere.
The planet Jupiter is still very bright near Taurus. It was in opposition, or closest to the
Earth, in December. We are now moving moving
away from Jupiter in our orbit around the sun, but will still be very visible
for the next few months as it gradually moves to the west each night. Saturn rises around 11 PM along with Libra
and is visible through sunrise. Mercury
can still be seen very low on western horizon at twilight but will be gone by
the early week. Venus and Mars are both
currently obscured by the sun.
If you want to learn more about the stars and planets please
visit us at Kingman Museum. The
planetarium features two different shows each Saturday and Sunday afternoon
that include a star talk with opportunities for question and answer. Please visit kingmanmuseum.org for more
information or “Like” or Facebook page at facebook.com/KingmanMuseum for
updates on programs and special events.