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| - | ====== Sky Highlights for MARCH 2015 ====== | ||
| - | * March 5 -- Full Moon (the "Crow Moon")\\ | ||
| - | * //March 7/8 -- Set your clocks forward for Daylight Savings Time//\\ | ||
| - | * March 13 -- Last Quarter (moon absent from evening sky)\\ | ||
| - | * March 14 -- OPEN HOUSE at Farpoint Observatory, beginning 8:00 pm\\ | ||
| - | * March 20 -- __**New Moon**__\\ | ||
| - | * March 27 -- First Quarter\\ | ||
| - | ===== PLANETS in March 2015 ===== | ||
| - | Evening Sky: | ||
| - | * **Venus** -- in west | ||
| - | * **Mars** -- in west, bright orange | ||
| - | * **Jupiter** -- in east, very bright | ||
| - | * **Uranus** -- in southwest | ||
| - | * **Neptune** -- in west | ||
| - | Midnight: | + | For sky highlights see: |
| - | * **Jupiter** -- in south, very bright | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Morning Sky: | + | |
| - | * **Mercury** -- low in southeast | + | |
| - | * **Jupiter** -- in west, very bright | + | |
| - | * **Saturn** -- in south | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===== CONSTELLATIONS well placed in evening during March 2015 ===== | + | |
| - | North to South, at 7-9 pm: | + | |
| - | * **Draco**, the Dragon, very low in the North | + | |
| - | * **Ursa Minor**, the Little Bear, also the Little Dipper | + | |
| - | * **Camelopardalis**, the Giraffe | + | |
| - | * **Lynx**, //not a Lynx//--so named because you need Lynx eyes to see it | + | |
| - | * **Gemini**, the twins | + | |
| - | * **Orion**, the Hunter | + | |
| - | * **Canis Minor**, the Smaller Dog | + | |
| - | * **Canis Major**, the Big Dog | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===== EXTRAS in March 2015 ===== | + | |
| - | * March is by far the best month to see the evening **zodiacal light**, reaching almost vertically from the west horizon. And this year the moon is new at the equinox. Look about 45 minutes after sunset. On the clearest evenings around mid-March, the roughly triangular pillar will reach up 45 degrees, to the Pleiades. Not to be missed. | + | |
| - | * OK, Kansas nights are still a bit cold in March. **Think binoculars!** Even in a Michelin Man coat and gloves, it's hard to set up a telescope and stay out. BUT!--a coat, hat, folding chair, and modest binocs and you're good for 15 minutes or more--//and you can see a lot.// We'll make suggestions here. SO, we're going to start emphasizing binocular Sky Highlights during the winter months. | + | |
| - | * This is **Messier Marathon** month. Best nights by far will be the weekend of March 20-22. Because of this early date, the object at highest risk of being lost in twilight is--the last one, M 30, a heartbreak scenario, but there it is. Anyone up for an all-nighter? | + | |
| - | * Several evening planets grace the sky in March. Jupiter is already high in the southeast in the evening, and Venus, Mars, and Uranus are low in the west. Saturn is up pre-dawn. Mercury and Neptune have passed the sun and are up pre-dawn as well. | + | |
| - | * Venus and Mars flirt shamelessly early March. Look above the west horizon perhaps 30-60 minutes after sunset. | + | |
| - | * A tough month for comets: C/2012 Q2 (Lovejoy) is fading and very low in the north all night, and C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) is high pre-dawn but will probably require a 10" telescope and patience. | + | |
| - | * | + | |
| - | * Remember: stay warm during wintertime observing--take and put on more clothes than you think you'll need, and take a break now and then. But the skies are great--go look! | + | |
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| + | [[http://www.astronomy.com/observing/sky-this-week|Astronomy Magazine's Sky This Week]] | ||
