This week's night sky is brimming with exciting celestial events! The March equinox ushers in the official start of spring, bringing equal day and night across the Northern Hemisphere. The waning gibbous moon will pass near Antares, offering a great opportunity for early risers to catch this celestial pairing. As the third quarter moon approaches, it's the perfect time to head out for deep-sky observations. Here's what you need to know to make the most of this week's skywatching!
On March 20 at 4:01 a.m. EDT, the sun crosses the celestial equator, marking the start of northern spring. Day and night will be of equal length, and the sun will rise due east and set due west. Daylight will increase by 3 minutes per day in mid-northern latitudes.
On March 20, the waning gibbous moon will shine near Antares, the reddish star in the southern sky. Observers in Australia, southern New Zealand, and western Antarctica can see the moon occult Antares. Use a stargazing app for precise timings.
The third quarter moon occurs on March 22 at 6:29 a.m. EST. The moon will be 50% illuminated on its western side. This phase offers dark skies perfect for observing deep-sky objects like spring galaxies.
On March 23, Earth will cross Saturn's ring plane, making the planet's rings briefly vanish from view. The best views will be from mid-southern latitudes, though morning twilight may interfere. The next crossing will be in October 2038.
One of the most striking moon phases this week will be the Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) moon on March 22. From our perspective, the moon will look half illuminated and will rise around midnight and set around noon. From now until the end of the month, the skies will become progressively darker as we approach the new moon on March 29 making it the perfect time to hunt for some more obscure, fainter night sky targets such as the Andromeda Galaxy, whose presence was all but washed out during the recent full moon on March 13.
We teamed up with Catalina Sky Survey scientist, asteroid hunter, and RankinStudio astrophotographer David Rankin and put together a detailed guide on how to spot fake lunar eclipse photos.
Landscape astrophotographer Josh Dury captured this stunning sequence of the total lunar eclipse over Stalker Castle in Appin, Scotland. Dury traveled to Scotland in search of clear skies (not something you hear every day!) and managed to photograph the eclipse before the moon set.
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