The Vernal Equinox coincides with two things this year: a New Moon shortly after and the reappearance of Mercury to our evening sky. At which time all the naked-eye planets will be visible. March provides no major meteor showers but a minor shower, the Virginids, will peak on the 24th. You may be able to catch a glimpse of a shooting star with a combination of luck and patience.
The SunÕs ingress into tropical Aries occurs on March 20th at 1:49 a.m. EST. This marks the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere and of autumn in the southern hemisphere. The seasonal ingresses are based on the SunÕs interaction with the Ecliptic and Celestial Equator at significant points. The Ecliptic is the zodiac band of constellations that the Sun, Moon and planets travel in our sky due to EarthÕs tilt on her axis. Since the Sun is stationary and Earth is traveling around our parent star, the Sun defines the path of the Ecliptic from our geocentric point of view. The Celestial Equator is simply the EarthÕs equator extended into infinite space. These two great circles have an angular distance at their greatest point of separation of approximately 23*26Õ. This is known as the Òobliquity of the EclipticÓ. The tropical zodiacal positions 00Cancer and 00Capricorn mark the greatest distance north and south respectively that the two are apart from each other. When the Sun reaches these two hover points we experience our longest day and longest night and our summer and winter seasons. Incidentally these solstice points are marked on our globe as the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The obliquity of the Ecliptic also accounts for it intersecting the Celestial Equator in the east and west. The tropical zodiacal position where those two great circles meet in the east is 00Aries and in the west is 00Libra. When the Sun reaches these hinge points, we experience equal day and night all over the world. This month the Sun reaches the eastern hinge point of the Ecliptic and Celestial Equator. He is climbing out of the southern hemisphere and entering the northern hemisphere as he crosses the Celestial Equator. From the Vernal Equinox at 00Aries until the Sun reaches the hover point of 00Cancer, the northern hemisphere will experience increasing daylight hours and the southern hemisphere will have increasing night time hours.
Mercury conjuncts the Sun on the 3rd at 8:43 p.m. EST. Therefore the close proximity to the Sun renders him invisible to observers. Mercury reaches greatest eastern elongation to the Sun on the 29th at 7:00 a.m. EST. This means he will become visible about a week before and after. Begin watching on the 20th and see if you can see Mercury make his debut low in the western horizon as the glow of the sunset twilight dissipates. A sky map of the evening of March 20th depicting the Vernal Equinox with the Sun and Moon as well as the positions of Mercury, Venus and Mars is available in OCA Public Library for both the northern and southern hemispheres. The map is set for 6:15 local time before sunset to show the location of the Vernal Equinox. You will have to wait for the Sun to dip below the horizon to see the planets. Venus, the brightest, will pop into view first, followed by Mercury then Mars, the dimmest. The Moon conjuncts Mercury on the 22nd at 2:49 a.m. EST. See if you can notice a very slender crescent of a barely waxing New Moon hang below Mercury on the 21st and above the Messenger on the 22nd.
Venus reaches greatest elongation at 12:00 p.m. EST on the 29th as well. This night you will see her at her furthest separation from the Sun she can possibly reach and it will conclude her climb out of the sunset. After this date, Venus will begin to appear lower each night. While Venus is climbing higher and higher in the night sky at sunset throughout most of the month, notice her movement against the fixed star backdrop of the Zodiac stars. She begins the month among the stars of the constellation Pisces and moves through the entire constellation of Aries to land at the beginning of TaurusÕ stars by monthÕs end. Her direct eastward movement is definitely something to watch this month as it is quite noticeable. The Moon conjuncts Venus on the 24th at 5:29 p.m. EST. Northern hemisphere observers can see the Moon slightly to the left of and barely below Venus on this night. Being that this conjunction occurs in daylight hours over Australia, observers there will see the Moon a good distance below Venus on the 24th and the evening of the 25th will display the Moon above Venus.
Mars also makes noticeable eastern movement against the fixed star backdrop of the Zodiac. At the beginning of the month, Mars is found among the constellation Aries. By monthÕs end, he will have made his way into the constellation Taurus. From the 28th to the 31st watch as Mars conjuncts the alpha star Aldebaran. You can see Mars gain on, lie next to, and pass up this fixed star at this time. The Moon conjuncts Mars on the 25th at 6:36 p.m. EST. This is an excellent night to witness an occultation if you are in high northern latitudes. The Moon will pass directly in front of Mars, blocking him from view in Alaska, northern Canada, Greenland, the northern British Isles, northern Scandinavia, northern Russia, and northern Japan. Below this level a partial occultation will occur, so it may be interesting to see how much of it you can witness from your northern hemisphere location. Observers in the southern hemisphere will not witness an occultation. Australian observers will see the Moon below Mars on the 25th. By the evening of the 26th the conjunction will have occurred and the Moon will be just above Mars in the Australian night sky.
The Sun opposes Jupiter on the 4th at 12:05 a.m. EST. This means that Jupiter will rise as the Sun sets on the evening of the 3rd and set as the Sun rises on the morning of the 4th. On the 6th Jupiter is joined by the Full Moon in conjunction at 12:46 p.m. Due to this conjunction occurring in the day when Jupiter is not visible, observers in the northern hemisphere will see Jupiter rise after the Moon on the 5th and before the Moon on the 6th. You can watch for Jupiter to set closely with Moon in the west as the Sun rises in the east on the morning of the 6th as the pair near the conjunction. Australian observers can watch Jupiter rise just ahead of the Moon on the evening of the 6th and set with the Moon in conjunction on the morning of the 7th. Jupiter is retrograde this month. Being that he only moves about 4 degrees west this month, and is not near a bright star, his westward movement will be hard to detect.
The Moon makes two conjunctions with Saturn this month. The first occurs on the 1st at 5:52 a.m. EST. Even though the pair set over the United States just before the conjunction occurs, the approaching of the conjunction can be witnessed. As the skies darken on the evening of February 29th, watch for Saturn to pop into view to the right, or west, of the Moon. As the skies become even darker the constellation Gemini will come into view. The Moon is about midway between Taurus and Gemini at this time and Saturn is near their feet. As the night progresses and Gemini makes his way west as the Earth spins, watch for the Moon to travel east and enter the constellation Gemini to gain on Saturn. Though the pair will set around 3:30 a.m. before the conjunction perfects, you can still see them set almost simultaneously in the early morning hours of March 1st in the United States. Australian observers will notice Saturn hanging above the Moon as the skies darken on March 1st. The Moon sets around 12:15 a.m. on March 2nd followed by Saturn a bit less than a half hour later. On the evening of the 2nd watch for Saturn to pop into view to the left or west of the Moon who will have made her way to dance near the heads of the Gemini Twins, Pollux and Castor. This night Saturn will set over Australia around 12:45 followed by the Moon a little more than a half hour later. Sky Maps of Saturn setting with the Moon are available for both hemispheres in the OCA Public Library. These also show JupiterÕs location.
Saturn stations direct on the 7th at 11:51 a.m. EST. The station accounts for Saturn to appear to stop and stand still before resuming a direct eastern trek through the zodiac. Due to the station Saturn will not appear to move at all this month.
The second conjunction of the Moon and Saturn occurs on the 28th at 2:55 p.m. EST. This time it is the Australian observers who can witness the pair setting almost simultaneously at around 11:00 p.m. on the 29th. For U.S. observers the Moon will set around 1:30 a.m. on the 28th followed by Saturn a little less than a half hour later. Saturn sets at the same the next night followed by the Moon a little more than a half hour later.
The Moon opposes the Sun at 6:14 p.m. EST on the 6th resulting in a Full Moon. On the 11th she reaches perigee at 10:53 p.m. EST. This is the closest distance to Earth she will be this month of 229,601 miles. On the 13th the Moon perfects a waning square to the Sun at 4:01 p.m. EST, resulting in a Third Quarter Moon. On the 20th the Moon perfects conjunction to the Sun at 5:41 p.m., roughly 16 hours after the Vernal Equinox. On the 27th the Moon reaches apogee at 2:01 a.m. EST. This is the furthest distance from Earth she will be this month of 251,358 miles. On the 28th at 6:48 p.m. EST the Moon perfects a waxing square to the Sun, resulting in a First Quarter Moon.
The Virginids, a minor meteor shower, peak on the 24th with the radiant aptly stemming from the constellation Virgo. The shower is rated as weak and only about 5 per hour are expected. Virgo is fully above the eastern horizon in the United States around 10:00 p.m. and around 9:00 pm over Australia. By this time, the waxing crescent Moon is fully set so it will not be able to interfere with this already weak shower. The luckiest time to catch a glimpse of a meteor from this shower is between midnight and 2:00 a.m. as Virgo culminates, but IÕm not sure IÕd wait up for it.
Happy stargazing!
Julene M. Johnson, NCGR-III
Media Director, OCA
Instructor, OCA
ONLINE College of Astrology
www.astrocollege.com
FIRST in Online Astrological Education
