Celestial Events in March

Howdy Patrons!

Winter is coming to an end, and along with it, the winter constellations. The coming months are known as "Galaxy Season" among as astrophotographers, because our night sky is pointed away from out own galaxy and out into intergalactic space, so that will be the theme of more of my images in the coming months. This is a tricky time to shoot deep space, because galaxies are fainter and angularly smaller than nebulae (not actually smaller though, that'd be just silly). This means I will need to shoot at long focal lengths with a really good mount, and be limited to when the moon isn't shining brightly overhead. Working on assembling a new mount to aid me with this to bring you some galaxy pictures!

Without further ado- here's a quick rundown of events to look forward to in March:

March 3rd- Mars Near the Pleiades
Mars will be drifting close to the 7 sisters. This will look really interesting through binoculars. This will be high in the Western sky after sunset. Look for the red planet next to the open cluster shaped like a tiny big dipper. 

March 6th- Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation
This is the best time for Early risers to see the tiny innermost planet, since it will be highest in the sky just before dawn in the Eastern sky. It will look like a tiny faint star low in the sky. 

March 9th & 10th- Quadruple Conjunction
Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter, and the Moon will all form a nice little group in the morning sky. Look to the East before dawn on these days to see this gorgeous sight!

March 13th- New Moon
The days around the new moon are always the best to go star gazing. March is also really the last time you can catch the Orion spur before it sets for the season (the outer portion of our galaxy). If I can, I will try to shoot it one more time before the season is over. My observation challenge- try to find the star cluster that is home to the rosette nebula. The nebula itself is difficult to see visually, but shows up easily in long exposures. The center of it has a bright star cluster you can see with your naked eye, but looks great in binoculars. Refer to the attached guide. Rosette is on the left.

March 28th- Full Moon
This is known as the "Worm Moon" since it coincides when worms begin to appear in the soil. One of the more unfortunately named moons in my opinion.

Wishing you all a great Month! As always, feel free to pester me with any questions you may have about any of this stuff. I love talking with you!

Andrew