Astrophiz Podcasts

This month the planetary action is still largely in the western evening skies. Earth is at equinox on Tuesday, 21 March. At this time day and night are roughly equal in duration. March 2; Venus and Jupiter at their closest. March 3; Mercury and Saturn close low in the twilight. March 4; apogee Moon. March 7; Full Moon. March 15; Last Quarter Moon. March 20; the thin crescent moon near Saturn in the morning twilight. March 20; Moon at perigee. March 22; New Moon. March 24; the crescent Moon is very close to Venus in the twilight. March 29; First Quarter Moon. March 28; the Moon is close to Mars. March 30, Mars close to open cluster M35. March 31; Venus is just 1.5 degrees from Uranus. MERCURY: Mercury falls back towards the eastern horizon and is lost to view early in the month, reappearing in the evening twilight late this month. On the 3rd Mercury and Saturn are about 1 degree apart, deep in the twilight. You will need a level, unobstructed horizon and binoculars to see the pair at their bes