March will be a quiet month with the only big event being the Vernal equinox. This is when the northern hemisphere of the Earth starts to tip towards the Sun, marking the beginning of spring. This is also one of two days during the year in which the Sun lies directly over the equator of the Earth, creating nearly equal amounts of daylight and darkness. From this point in the year, the daylight will increase until 6 months later, when the length of darkness increases.
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| Mercury |
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| Venus |
Venus will again dominate the morning sky, shining brightly at a magnitude of -4.0 all month. It will rise between 5:00-5:30 all month. On the 2nd, Venus will be joined by a crescent Moon with less than 5° separating the two. By the end of the month, the Moon will again join Venus in the morning sky, but won't be as close as it was on the 2nd.
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| Mars |
Mars will be found high in the southwest after sunset and will remain above the horizon until about 11:00 pm. Mars will appear as a red disk through a telescope but won't offer up any surface detail since it lies so far from us. It is still fun to look at and to point out to your friends or family that you are out stargazing with.
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| Jupiter |
Jupiter will again be the first planet to rise in the morning during March. Over Utah, it should peak about the southeastern horizon close to 3:00 am. You may notice a red star to the upper right. This is Antares, not Mars! The Moon will join Jupiter on the morning of the 27th creating a beautiful sight, as long as the clouds don't interfere. Jupiter will start the month off shining at magnitude -2.0 and brighten slightly by months end to -2.2. The views of Jupiter through a telescope will show the darker cloud bands as well as the four largest moons. Be sure to wait for the planet to be higher in the sky to improve your views. If you have patience, wait until later this year for the warmer weather and for Jupiter to reach opposition. This will also greatly improve your views since more sunlight will be reflected off this gas giant for your telescope or binoculars to collect.
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| Saturn |
Saturn will be the next planet to rise, nearly two hours after Jupiter. On the first morning of March, the crescent Moon can be found near Saturn. The pair should be above the southeastern horizon by 5 am. With each passing morning, the Moon will be further away from the ringed world, increasing your views through a telescope. However, the Moon will return by months end creating a similar encounter as what occured on the 1st. If you can't wait to view Saturn through a telescope, be sure to wait until it lies higher in the sky which will be around 6:00 am. If you can wait, I would suggest waiting until later this year when Saturn will also reach opposition, greatly improving your views through a telescope.
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| Uranus |
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| Neptune |
The best chances to view Uranus this month will be during Marchs' first half. It will be located below Mars but will require binoculars or a telescope to see. As the month progresses, Uranus will move closer and closer to the Sun, making it harder to spot. Neptune had a similar fate last month and will not be visible until late April.
The Moon
There are no major meteor showers again this month but the moon is always a nice target. It's easy to spot and is a fun target for the unaided eyes, binoculars, small telescopes, and large telescopes. The larger the instrument used, the more detail you will be able to spot. For many astronomers, their first gazes of the Moon as children, leads to their career choice as adults. I think this month will be an exceptional month for the Moon because I like to see it close to the planets, the morning ones in this case. I think it presents a great photographic opportunity. Let me know what you see and what you think!
Monthly Breakdown
March 01: Moon and Saturn pass within 1°
March 02: Moon and Venus pass within 1.5°
March 06: New Moon 🌑
March 11: Moon and Mars pass within 6°
March 14: First Quarter Moon 🌓
March 20: Full Moon 🌕
March 20: Vernal Equinox
March 26: Moon and Jupiter pass within 2°
March 28: Last Quarter Moon 🌗
March 29: Moon and Saturn pass within 2°
Think About This....💡
March brings about St. Patrick's Day, and with that the legend of leprechauns and their pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. This gave me the idea to talk about the electromagnetic spectrum and how much of it we can't see. The part that we can see with our eyes are the colors of the rainbow, but there is so much more to the electromagnetic spectrum that we can't see.
On the violet end of the spectrum, just outside the visible range, there lies the ultraviolet wavelength. We have all heard of ultraviolet radiation (UV) and how dangerous it can be if you are exposed to a lot of it. The Sun produces UV radiation which is the reason we should wear sunscreen when we are outside. This helps our body protect itself from these harmful rays.
Just past the UV range of the spectrum we run into the X-Ray range. This is another part that we have all heard of and likely experienced. Doctors use X-Rays to look at your bones, dentists use them to look at your teeth. They are even used at the airport to make sure you aren't bringing anything harmful onboard the airplane. There are also X-Rays in space that can be detected with telescopes that are able to see this wavelength. Black holes and neutron stars are two such things that produce X-Rays in space.
Finishing off the end of the spectrum closest to violet in color are Gamma Rays. Gamma Rays have the shortest wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum. These can be produced by the Sun, lighting strikes, artificially in super colliders such as CERN, and also from stars known as pulsars and magnetars. Gamma rays are also harmful to humans because of their tiny wavelength. They can go right through a human body, interacting with our cells and causing cancer.
Toward the red end of the spectrum, just outside of the visible range, we have the infrared wavelength. With special equipment, these can be seen. There are many uses for detecting the infrared wavelength, such as astronomy, night vision, and detecting heat signatures. In astronomy, this helps astronomers see through clouds of dust in the universe as well as detecting faint objects that would otherwise be undetectable.
With wavelengths longer than the infrared wavelengths, we run into the microwaves, yes the same waves that are inside your microwave that you use to pop popcorn, warm up pizza, and cook frozen burritos. These waves range from between 1 millimeter to one meter in length. This makes them too large to interact with our bodies, so those that think microwaves cause cancer are mistaken. Microwave astronomy uses special space based telescopes to exame the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) which helps determine the age of the universe and how it is changing over time.
Finally at the far end of the spectrum, we run into radio waves, the same waves that carry your favorite radio station. These wavelengths range from 1 millimeter to over 10,000 kilometers. These waves are also much too large to interact with our bodies. Many of you have likely heard of radio astronomy and have maybe even seen pictures of radio telescopes. These look just like the satellite dishes that people have attached to their homes, only much larger. There are many sources for radio waves in our solar system, galaxy, and the universe. The Sun, Jupiter, supernovae remnants, neutron stars, and our galactic center are all producers of radio waves.
For comparison, here is an image of the Sun in visible light, which is actually white, but appears orange/yellow to us because of the Earth's atmosphere.
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| Electromagnetic Spectrum Courtesy of NASA |
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| Sun in UV, Courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams. |
On the violet end of the spectrum, just outside the visible range, there lies the ultraviolet wavelength. We have all heard of ultraviolet radiation (UV) and how dangerous it can be if you are exposed to a lot of it. The Sun produces UV radiation which is the reason we should wear sunscreen when we are outside. This helps our body protect itself from these harmful rays.
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| Sun in X-Ray, Courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams. |
Just past the UV range of the spectrum we run into the X-Ray range. This is another part that we have all heard of and likely experienced. Doctors use X-Rays to look at your bones, dentists use them to look at your teeth. They are even used at the airport to make sure you aren't bringing anything harmful onboard the airplane. There are also X-Rays in space that can be detected with telescopes that are able to see this wavelength. Black holes and neutron stars are two such things that produce X-Rays in space.
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| Sun in Gamma Ray, Courtesy of SLAC/Stanford |
Finishing off the end of the spectrum closest to violet in color are Gamma Rays. Gamma Rays have the shortest wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum. These can be produced by the Sun, lighting strikes, artificially in super colliders such as CERN, and also from stars known as pulsars and magnetars. Gamma rays are also harmful to humans because of their tiny wavelength. They can go right through a human body, interacting with our cells and causing cancer.
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| Sun in Infrared, Courtesy of National Solar Observatory |
Toward the red end of the spectrum, just outside of the visible range, we have the infrared wavelength. With special equipment, these can be seen. There are many uses for detecting the infrared wavelength, such as astronomy, night vision, and detecting heat signatures. In astronomy, this helps astronomers see through clouds of dust in the universe as well as detecting faint objects that would otherwise be undetectable.
 |
| Sun in Microwave, Courtesy of Nobeyama Radioheliograph in Japan |
With wavelengths longer than the infrared wavelengths, we run into the microwaves, yes the same waves that are inside your microwave that you use to pop popcorn, warm up pizza, and cook frozen burritos. These waves range from between 1 millimeter to one meter in length. This makes them too large to interact with our bodies, so those that think microwaves cause cancer are mistaken. Microwave astronomy uses special space based telescopes to exame the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) which helps determine the age of the universe and how it is changing over time.
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| Sun in Radio Waves, Courtesy of National Radio Astronomy Observatory |
Finally at the far end of the spectrum, we run into radio waves, the same waves that carry your favorite radio station. These wavelengths range from 1 millimeter to over 10,000 kilometers. These waves are also much too large to interact with our bodies. Many of you have likely heard of radio astronomy and have maybe even seen pictures of radio telescopes. These look just like the satellite dishes that people have attached to their homes, only much larger. There are many sources for radio waves in our solar system, galaxy, and the universe. The Sun, Jupiter, supernovae remnants, neutron stars, and our galactic center are all producers of radio waves.
For comparison, here is an image of the Sun in visible light, which is actually white, but appears orange/yellow to us because of the Earth's atmosphere.
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| Sun in Visible Light, Courtesy of Big Bear Solar Observatory |
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| Now get outside and look up! |
Planet images taken by NASA.
Andrew vs. the Cosmos taken by Jeff Greenland.
