Full Moon:
Mar 6
New Moon:
Mar 20
STAR GAZE (Mar 19):
Sun: Sets at 6:35pm, astronomical twilight ends at 8:05pm
and begins at 5:13am the next morning. The Sun rises the next morning at 6:33am.
Between astronomical twilights, we get about 9.1 hours of darkness.
Moon: (illuminated 3%) The Moon sets at 5:32pm.
Jupiter & it's moons: Jupiter rises at 5:07pm. Io
disappears behind Jupiter's disk (is "occulted") at 3:00am, and reappears
from occultation by Jupiter's shadow at 5:40am. Jupiter culminates (is
highest in the sky) at 11:37am. The Great Red Spot crosses Jupiter's meridian
about 9:00pm. Jovian moon Io reappears from occultation behind Jupiter at 2:20am.
Saturn: Saturn has already risen by sunset. It culminates
at 7:10pm. The "star" located about 4 ring-diameters away to the west-north-west
is really the moon Titan. Saturn reached opposition on December 31 and it's
moving further and further into the western sky, to be lost in the sun's glare
in a few months. The rings appear very tilted to our view at this time, so Cassini's
Division and other ring features are visible.
Asteroids: Ceres (in Gemini) is high in the
sky at sunset on the night of the gaze. It culminates at 9:45pm. You can see
it in binoculars as a star-like object at magnitude 8.2.
SOLAR SYSTEM:
Mercury & Venus: Very good showings late in the month in the evening sky.
Jovian Events:
March 5: Europa's shadow begins transit only 3 minutes after the moon itself,
& Io's shadow begins transit only 2 minutes after Io itself. So, at best, the
moon would appear to only have a dark edge to it. The Jovian moon events occur
so close to Jupiter's opposition (March 3-4) that the shadows probably will
not be detectable. (We are almost directly between the Sun & the Moon, so the
moons' shadows are almost directly behind the moons.)
March 12 (in the morning): A similar event (Europa & Io) happens, but Jupiter will be only 22 degrees above the horizon.
March 21 (Sunday): At 12:38am there seems to be a 7 minute period between Io's shadow beginning ingress and Ganymede's transit ending. So for 7 minutes, 2 moons and 2 shadows. GRS not visible.
March 29 (Sunday): Good possibilities for Io & Europa beginning about 8:00pm, ending at midnight. The shadows have moved away from behind the moons, so instead of following by 2 & 3 minutes, they follow by 36 minutes and 93 minutes. At mid-event (3:30 UT, 10:30 EST), Jupiter will be at 44 degrees altitude (not great, but OK).This info is from p110 of March S&T. (Added treat: The Great Red Spot (GRS) will be on Jupiter's meridian at 10:30 EST)).
Comet C/2002 T7: : Discovered on October 14, 2003 in Gemini, it is now located near the corner star Algenib in Pegasus at magnitude 6.0 and will be lost in the Sun's glare by late March. Perihelion will be in April, but visible then only from the southern hemisphere. See Sky & Telescope article and MISAO map.
5 Planets are visible at once, late in the month.
DEEP SKY OBJECTS (DSO's) (Not the biggest or brightest, but interesting):
NGC 2244 (open cluster) in Monoceras. Associated with the large but faint "Rosette Nebula".
R Leporis (Hind's Crimson Star), a Mira-type variable with a 427 day period. One of the reddest stars we can see, but you'll need a larger telescope to bring out the color . Catch it early in the evening.
NGC1990 (reflection nebula) with associated "Bok Globules". Supposedly an 8" or 10" scope at 250x will reveal the globules. Also, NGC1990 is surrounded by "Herbig-Haro", or "H-H", bi-polar jets! These appear as 14th mag fuzzy stars, so be real sweet to the folks with the big scopes this month. Catch it early in the evening. (See 2003 Feb S&T, p101)
HIGHLIGHTS:
Spring Equinox is March 20. The Sun crosses the celestial equator into the northern celestial hemisphere.
You can check the Yahoo group for
AstroAsheville (or call Tim @ 251-0040
or John @ 251-1933 x17 (before 5:00) or 667-9268 (after 5:00)) for a go/no-go
decision and to verify location.
CLUB MEETING:
The club meeting is the first Thursday of every month, at
6 p.m. at Sim’s
Group located at 230 Short Coxe Ave., Asheville, NC.
Happy Starwatching! Dress Warm!
Blue Ridge Parkway Information
Line is 828-298-0398
www.AstroAsheville.org
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THE BIG PICTURE: Each chart below covers a very wide area of sky, roughly from eastern horizon to western horizon. Constellations are green stick figures. The dividing line between constellations are dashed blue lines. The purpose is to show the large scale structure of the night sky: why certain types of objects are visible in certain areas of the sky.
1. Above: 6 hr
R.A. (passes overhead on winter evenings,as in March): OPEN CLUSTERS
in the sky north to south (Auriga to Pupis). Open Clusters are generally within
the arms of the galaxy and are roughly co-located with the Milky Way. They are
plotted as tan circles above. You are looking away from the center of the galaxy.
(Note: all types of objects are labeled, not just open clusters.)
2. Above: 12
hr R.A. (passes overhead on spring evenings; passes overhead about midnight
in March) GALAXIES in the sky north to south (Ursa Major to Virgo). They
are plotted as blue ovals in the chart above. At 9:00pm during mid-June, the
Milky Way is rising in the east. Just to the west of the zenith is the North
Galactic Pole, in the constellation Coma Berenices. In southwest Coma Berenices
happens to be the heart of the Local Supercluster of galaxies. Many of these
galaxies are visible in medium-sized telescopes.
3.
Above: 18 hr R.A. (passes overhead on summer evenings; rises just before
sunrise in March): GLOBULAR CLUSTERS (yellow cross inside a circle) &
PLANETARY NEBULAE (blue circle in a cross) in the sky north to south
(Cygnus to Sagittarius). The lower-middle of this chart is towards the center
of the Milky Way galaxy.
Charts created using Megastar
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(Much of the above info derived from Sky & Telescope and Astronomy magazines, Ottewell's Astronomical Calendar, The Night Sky Observer's Guide, Megastar 5.0, Planets202, the ol' Miller Planesphere, and a little (very little) common sense.)