March 2008 - Roars like a Lion

February’s beautiful lunar eclipse occurred with the moon in our constellation, Leo.   The beautiful planet, Saturn, will spend spring this year in Leo. To find Leo, look for the familiar pattern of stars in the shape of a sickle or a backward “question mark” along with a triangle of bright stars to the north or left of the sickle.   These form the head and hinds of Leo.

March evenings also beckon us outdoors to catch Orion in the south.  If you have never observed the Orion nebula, now would be an excellent opportunity to see the largest nebula visible from North America.  Look for the familiar pattern of three stars in Orion’s belt and then look down to what appears to be three fainter stars forming a sword below his belt.  With the naked eye you may discern a fuzzy patch in the middle of these sword stars.  Binoculars reveal a white flame and a telescope reveals more beauty in this swirling cloud of hydrogen gas which is giving birth to new, hot stars.   You also may be able to spot, Sirius, the dog star, following Orion across the sky.  This star is the brightest star visible from northern latitudes although it does not match the brilliance of the planet Venus, visible before dawn in the east.   Because Sirius is never far from the horizon, its light must travel through extra layers of air to reach us. The result is more refraction of the light flashing red, blue and white when observing with binoculars or telescope.

You may have noticed Venus sleeping later into the morning and not rising until a few minutes before the sun comes up.  The later appearance of Venus is due to its orbit around the sun as it heads toward the opposite side of the sun from earth.  On the morning of  March 5 just before sunrise, you may want to look for a close conjunction of Venus, Mercury and the crescent moon near the eastern horizon.  If you were to follow the moon with binoculars throughout the day, you would see a close encounter of the moon and Venus in the late afternoon sky.   Venus is often visible during the daytime against the background of a dark blue sky.   And with it in close proximity to the moon you may be fortunate to even see Venus with the naked eye.

 
Under ideal circumstances even Jupiter may be visible to the naked eye during the daytime on March 30 in close proximity to the moon.   However, you would be more likely to see it with binoculars or a telescope as a white dot against a dark blue sky.  Look to the southeast before sunrise for the moon and for Jupiter to the moon’s upper left.   If you follow the moon throughout the morning with binoculars, you may be able to also see Jupiter close beside it.

The red planet, Mars, continues to linger in our night sky although it would be almost impossible to see surface detail through a telescope.  Look for it directly above Orion in the vicinity of the two bright stars, Castor and Pollux, known as the Gemini Twins.   Saturn is always beautiful to observe.  Through a telescope the rings and the moon Titan are always visible.  This year the rings appear more “edge on” than at this time last year but the beautiful ball of light is still worth viewing whenever you have the opportunity.

 
Spring arrives early this year.   For those in Mountain or Pacific time zones, spring arrives a few minutes before midnight on March 19 and for those further east, it is already March 20 when spring arrives.   For many who have endured winter this year, an early spring is most welcome.   We hope March offers you many clear and warmer nights for observing the wonders of our night skies.