The Night Sky in March 2007

New Moon Monday 19th	First quarter Sunday 25th	Full Moon Saturday 3rd	Last quarter Monday 12th

Click HERE to see the phase of the Moon on each day of the month.

What's happening in the night sky?

Well March is upon us already and it brings with it the first signs of spring, and on March 21st we have the Spring or Vernal Equinox. That's the point after which we get more daytime than nighttime in the UK. As a result, you will start to notice the Sun rising earlier as we progress through the month and also setting later.

Maps of the current night sky can be seen by clicking HERE

March 2nd - Grazing Occultation of Saturn

For those of you brave enough to face the early hours of Friday 2nd March and living in the right location, you may have the chance (weather permitting) of seeing an Occultation of Saturn. A full occultation occurs when an object, such as a star or distant planet, passes behind a closer object such as the Moon; whereas a grazing occultation (as we have here) sees that object (in this case Saturn) skirting along the edge of the Moon and getting partially covered.

Grazing Map

Map of the Grazing Path across the central UK - Credit: Jon Harper

Most of the country will either see a full occultation, or Saturn passing very close to the Moon. However, those within a broad graze line will see only part of Saturn disappear. This graze line crosses the mainland from north to south, starting in the Outer Hebrides (Saturn 98% hidden at Stornoway) and proceeding via Skye (50% hidden at Portree), Glasgow (96%), Preston (70%), Chester (25%), Birmingham (45%), Oxford (40%), and Reading (40%), until it reaches the south coast at Brighton (70%). Those to the east of the line will see a full occultation of Saturn and those to the west, a close conjunction (i.e. near miss).

March 3rd - Total Lunar Eclipse

Well it's all happening at the start of the month but, weather permitting, a Total Lunar Eclipse will be visible from the UK, Europe and Africa on the 3rd March. These are fairly rare events, with the last one occuring in October 2004, so you may want to dig out your hats and scarves. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves completely into the shadow (or UMBRA) of the Earth, where no direct light can reach it from the Sun. However, the Earth's atmosphere can refract (bend) and filter the light, causing the Moon to glow with a dark reddish or orangey colour.

Lunar Eclipse

A partial eclipse, where the leading edge of Moon first enters Umbra will begin at 21:30 (that is 9.30pm) on March 3 and end over 3.5 hours later at 01:12 (am) on March 4. The total eclipse lasts for over one hour, beginning at 22:43 on March 3 and ending at 23:58, with the moment of greatest eclipse occuring at 23:21.

What are the planets up to?

Click HERE and start the Electric Orrery to see where all the planets are today in relation to each other.

Mercury - spends the month as a morning object after passing inferior conjunction (between us and the Sun) on the 23rd February. As the month moves on it will rise increasingly earlier than the Sun, and by the end of the month can be found low above the east-southeast horizon a good 30 minutes before sunrise. That said, Mercury is a dim object so you may need a pair of binoculars to find it. Venus - remains the brightest planet and will be an evening object right through until August 2007 as it slowly catches us up on its inside orbit. At the start of March it can easily be found high above above the west-southwest horizon around 2 hours 30 minutes after sunset, shining far brighter than any other natural object. This slowly increases towards 3 hours during the month, giving us plenty of opportunity to view Venus. Mars - is another object that will remain a morning object for some time to come. In early March, Mars rises in the southeast around one hour before sunrise, and this will change little over the month. However, it will increase slightly in both size and brightness, making Mars much easier to identify by looking for a reddish star that is shining more steadily (i.e. not twinkling as much) than the others. Jupiter - continues to increase in size and brightness as we slowly catch it up. At the start of March it rises in the southeast around 2.40 am and can be found low above the southern horizon close to sunrise. Come the end of March, that rise-time moves earlier towards 1.00 am, making it a suitable target to observe using the Liverpool Telescope. Saturn - is still our primary target for reasonable images of a planet, although Jupiter is fast catching it up. Saturn can be found above the east-southeast horizon shortly after sunset and slowly crosses the sky during the night, setting in the west-northwest around 30 minutes before sunrise. By the month's end Saturn will be a little smaller and dimmer as we start to move away from it, and setting a couple of hours earlier. If you fancy getting an image of Saturn, why not try your luck using Go Observing.

Constellation of the month

Each month, a new constellation is highlighted for you to identify in the night sky.

This month we are going to look for the lesser known constellation of Auriga, the charioteer, which can be found high above the western horizon around 10pm. The constellation can be found by using the more famous constellations of Orion and Ursa Major to trace out a path to Auriga's brightest star, Capella

March Night Sky

Capella, which is the Latin name for a 'Little She Goat', is the sixth brightest star in the sky and has been mentioned in ancient writings dating back as far as 2000 BC. Although it appears as a single point to the naked eye, Capella is actually a bright pair of closely orbiting stars, known as a binary star, which orbit each other every 104 days and are each around 50 times more luminous than our Sun.

Mythology: Auriga

Although there are many stories, the most well known is that of Auriga representing Myrtilus, the unfortunate charioteer of King Oenomaus. This king was jealous of anyone who came to seek his daughter Hippodameia's hand in marriage. Being noted for his love of horses, the king announced that all suitors would have to take part in a chariot race against Myrtilus and, should they lose, pay with their lives. Since his horses came from the god Ares, none could beat them, and all the suitors were killed. Other gods decided to intervene when Pelops, son of Hermes, entered the fray. He was given a gold chariot, with winged golden horses to pull it, by Poseidon. As a further precaution, and with the consent of Hippodameia who had fallen in love with this latest suitor, Pelops arranged to tamper with the wheels of King Oenomaus' chariot. This was done and Myrtilus was dragged to his death, with Pelops was left to claim his prize.

As a mark of respect, a charioteer was placed into the heavens.