After sunset, Jupiter and Venus can be found in the western sky as two brilliant starlike objects. The two worlds will appear with less than a half-degree of separation on March 1st. As the month progresses, Jupiter appears closer to the horizon each night as Venus, our “Evening Star,” climbs higher. During the last week of the month, Mercury is visible in the western sky shining at magnitude -1.1 and will remain a naked eye target until mid-April. The crescent moon joins this region on the 23rd and 24th. Mars can also be found high in the evening sky all month. This reddish planet is positioned in the constellation Taurus for most of the month and moves into Gemini during the last week, where it will be joined by the moon on the 27th and 28th. 

The winter constellations have moved into the southwestern sky but continue to be great targets for stargazers. Rising in the east, Leo the lion ushers in the spring season. This constellation is easy to spot because the stars in its mane and forequarters appear as a backwards question mark, also known as the “Sickle” asterism. 

One of the most well-known collections of astronomical objects is the Messier catalog. It consists of 110 objects and was created by Charles Messier during the 1700s. The Messier Marathon is a fun challenge for astronomers, who attempt to observe all 110 objects in one night. We have this opportunity from mid-March to early April, with the best nights falling on the weekend of March 18th. A backyard telescope is required to complete this fun observing challenge. 

The March equinox, which marks the first day of spring, occurs on the 20th this month for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. On this day, the sun shines from directly overhead on the equator, making the day and night hours equal. 

Sixty-five years ago on March 17th, Vanguard 1 was launched and became the first solar-powered satellite. This was the fourth successful spacecraft and helped test the feasibility of a three-stage launch vehicle. Today, Vanguard 1 remains in orbit around Earth and is the oldest man-made object in space.

My good friend Lani Ching recently joined me for a fantastic evening of stargazing. We observed a medley of targets consisting of the Orion Nebula, Pleiades star cluster, Andromeda galaxy, and Mars through my 8-inch Dobsonian telescope. We also decided to observe the “Green Comet,” which has been featured on the news recently. I feel it was an underwhelming comet that got much more hype than it deserved. But nonetheless, we captured a few images of it using my Canon DSLR camera as it was passing within two degrees of Mars. 

After reading fellow Springfield (MA) STARS Club member Warren Carrington’s posts on Facebook about observing and imaging the sun, I was motivated to view the sun and its details through a solar telescope. I was excited to observe many features on the sun’s surface and multiple prominences around its edge. I also captured an image of the sun using my Canon DSLR camera. 

In contrast to observing the sun, I also had an opportunity to view our moon and observe both the “Lunar X” and “Lunar V” features. They are visible along the moon’s terminator for a short time around the first quarter phase and are a result of illuminated peaks amongst shadowed valleys.