Your guide to the night sky this month
Tuesday 1
Comet 19P/ Borrelly remains relatively bright this month and is well placed passing from Aries, the Ram into the southern part of Perseus, the Hero. Turn to page 47 to find out how to locate it.
Wednesday 2
Mag. 0.0 Mercury and mag. +0.9 Saturn are just 50 arcminutes apart as they rise 30 minutes before the Sun today. Be warned though, as this will be a tricky observation at best!
Thursday 3
Minor planet 16 Psyche reaches opposition at mag. +10.4. Psyche can be located under the belly of Leo, the Lion.
Friday 4
The Moon is re-emerging into the evening sky, but still sets early enough to try our ‘Deep-Sky Tour’. This month we’re looking at objects around Melotte 111 in the small constellation of Coma Berenices, Berenice’s Hair.
Saturday 5
Catch the early evening 10%-lit waxing crescent Moon and see three libration-locked seas: Mare Humboldtianum in the north, and Mare Symthii and Mare Marginis to the east. The Moon’s rocking and rolling libration state is favourable for viewing these.
Tuesday 8
This evening’s 35%-lit waxing crescent Moon lies 4.1˚ south of the Pleiades open cluster.
Thursday 10
Venus sits 4.1˚ north of mag. Mars, low above the southeast horizon, visible 1 hour before sunrise.
The clair-obscur effect within crater Ptolemaeus, known as Nessie, can be seen around 17:29 UT.
Saturday 12
The clair-obscur effect known as the Jewelled Handle can be seen this evening. This occurs when the light from the lunar dawn illuminates the peaks in the semi-circular Jura mountain range.
Tuesday 15
Minor planet 39 Laetitia reaches opposition today. Predicted to reach mag. +10.3, Laetitia can be found among the stars of Virgo, the Virgin passing northwest out of the Bowl asterism.
Saturday 19
This morning the just past full Moon occults the binary star Porrima (Gamma (γ) Virginis) as the dawn is breaking. Disappearance occurs at 05:52 UT from the centre of the UK.
Sunday 20
Venus reaches greatest western elongation, a beautiful morning sky beacon. At 15:33 UT the centre of the Sun’s disc crosses the celestial equator marking the Northern Hemisphere’s spring equinox.
Wednesday 23
If you have dark skies and clear weather after sunset, look out for the extremely faint glow of the Zodiacal light in the west. The inclined cone of light, caused by dust in the Solar System scattering sunlight, runs along the length of the ecliptic.
Thursday 24
A low triangular formation is visible between mag. +0.9 Saturn, mag. –4.2 Venus and mag. +1.1 Mars. Catch this impressive trio an hour before sunrise, rising above the east-southeast horizon.
Friday 25 >
As the nights shrink in length at this time of year, Orion’s drift to the west means the Hunter’s days are numbered. With the Moon out of the way, look at the Orion Nebula before it’s consigned to the morning sky once more.
Sunday 27
In the UK, the clocks advance one hour at 01:00 UT this morning to become 02:00 BST, which marks the start of British Summer Time.
Monday 28
Venus, Mars and Saturn are joined by an 18%-lit waning crescent Moon. The quartet can be seen rising above the southeast horizon approximately 40 minutes before sunrise.
Tuesday 29
Mag. –4.2 Venus sits 2.1˚ to the north of mag. +0.9 Saturn this morning with mag. +1.1 Mars 4.5˚ to the west of Saturn. Catch them approximately 40 minutes before sunrise, rising above the southeast horizon.
Wednesday 30
Although there are a few Messier objects not currently visible, it’s possible, given clear skies to view most of the catalogue over the course of a full night currently. Why not give it a try and see how many you can catch?
Family stargazing
The Plough, or Saucepan, is a familiar pattern visible whenever it is clear and dark in the UK. It sits more or less overhead early evening during March. See if your young astronomers can pick it out and ask them to draw its shape. Point out the pan and the handle and explain that extending the side of the pan furthest from the handle up with respect to the Saucepan points at the North Star, Polaris. Drop a vertical from Polaris and where it meets the horizon is due north. Explain that the two pan stars that are used are called the ‘Pointers’ for this reason. bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/stargazing
Need to know
The terms and symbols used in The Sky Guide
Universal Time (UT) and British Summer Time (BST)
Universal Time (UT) is the standard time used by astronomers around the world. British Summer Time (BST) is one hour ahead of UT
RA (Right ascension) and dec. (declination)
These coordinates are the night sky’s equivalent of longitude and latitude, describing where an object is on the celestial ‘globe’
Naked eye
Allow 20 minutes for your eyes to become dark-adapted
Photo opp
Use a CCD, planetary camera or standard DSLR
Binoculars
10×50 recommended
Small/ medium scope
Reflector/SCT under 6 inches, refractor under 4 inches
Large scope
Reflector/SCT over 6 inches, refractor over 4 inches
GETTING STARTED IN ASTRONOMY
If you’re new to astronomy, you’ll find two essential reads on our website. Visit http://bit.ly/10_easylessons for our 10-step guide to getting started and http://bit.ly/buy_scope for advice on choosing a scope