Sky & Telescope - March 2022 - 47

+30°
+40°
+20°
+10°
0°
-10°
-20°
-30°
-40°
22h
20h
CYGNUS
HERCULES
PEGASUS
AQUILA
Neptune
Jupiter
Mercury
28
Fomalhaut
10 am
OPHIUCHUS
VIRGO
AQUARIUS
Saturn
LIBRA
Venus
Mars
CAPRICORNUS
SAGITTARIUS
8 am
SCORPIUS
6 am
Spica
22
25
Antares
4 am
2 am
LOCAL TIME OF TRANSIT
Midnight
10 pm
8 pm
CORVUS
HYDRA
CANIS
MAJOR
6 pm
4 pm
2 pm
Sirius
ERIDANUS
Procyon
ORION
Rigel
EQUATOR
-20°
-10°
-30°
-40°
The Sun and planets are positioned for mid-March; the colored arrows show the motion of each during the month. The Moon is plotted for evening
dates in the Americas when it's waxing (right side illuminated) or full, and for morning dates when it's waning (left side illuminated). " Local time of transit "
tells when (in Local Mean Time) objects cross the meridian - that is, when they appear due south and at their highest - at mid-month. Transits
occur an hour later on the 1st, and an hour earlier at month's end.
a brightness mismatch, though. Mars
shines at magnitude 1.2, while Venus
gleams at magnitude -4.6 - more than
200 times brighter than her ruddy
dance partner.
Meanwhile, on the evening of the
15th, the Moon visits Leo, where it
has two noteworthy encounters. First,
observers in the eastern U.S. and Canada
equipped with binoculars (or even
better, a small telescope) can watch the
dark limb of the waxing gibbous Moon
eclipse 3.5-magnitude Eta Leonis. The
exact time of the encounter depends on
your location. From New York, it occurs
in fading twilight at 7:51 p.m. EDT.
More obvious this evening is the Moon
positioned less than 4½° above left of
Dawn, March 27 - 29
45 minutes before sunrise
CAPRICORNUS
Regulus, Leo's brightest star. That's the
Leo pairing most of us will get to enjoy.
SUNDAY, MARCH 20
As described on page 50, today Venus
reaches its greatest elongation from
the Sun, sitting 47° west of our home
star. You might suppose that " greatest
elongation " is the best time to observe
Venus since it's farthest from the Sun.
However, it's really the planet's elevation
above the horizon that determines
how easy (or not) Venus is to see. For
observers at mid-northern latitudes,
that occurrence usually doesn't match
the date of greatest elongation. Indeed,
with the current Venus apparition, the
brilliant planet was highest at dawn
nearly a month ago, on February 23rd.
If you dig out our annual Skygazer's
Almanac graph (distributed with the
January issue), you can quickly see
what's going on by looking at the line
labelled " Venus Rises " on the right
(morning) edge of the chart. You can
also see how gradual Venus's descent
toward twilight will be in the months
ahead. I mention this because if you're a
fan of watching the comings and goings
of the naked-eye planets, you can't do
Venus
Saturn
Moon
Mar 28
Mars
Moon
Mar 27
Looking Southeast
tThese scenes are drawn for near the middle
of North America (latitude 40° north, longitude
90° west). European observers should move
each Moon symbol a quarter of the way toward
the one for the previous date; in the Far East,
move the Moon halfway. The blue 10° scale bar
is about the width of your fist at arm's length.
For clarity, the Moon is shown three times its
actual apparent size.
better than this resource. That's why I
always keep mine handy.
FRIDAY, MARCH 25
The dawn dance of the planets reaches
a new climax this morning as Venus,
Mars, and Saturn find themselves
arranged in a neat triangle. This
moment of symmetry comes courtesy
of Venus, which is shifting eastward
quickly enough that the configuration
of planets changes noticeably from one
morning to the next. On this occasion
the Morning Star is roughly 4° from
Saturn and nearly 5° from Mars.
MONDAY, MARCH 28
If you had to pick one day out of the
entire month to get up early, this would
be it. A close pairing of planets, like the
ones on the 2nd and 15th are lovely
treats. Group together three planets, as
on the 25th, and it's that even better.
But throw in the Moon too? Well, even
a non-early-riser like me is sure to get
up before dawn. Venus, Mars, and
Saturn are still arrayed in a triangle,
though more of a right triangle than
the nearly isosceles arrangement they
had a few mornings ago. Completing
this stunning scene is the attractively
earthlit waning crescent Moon, shining
below the planetary trio. Talk about a
good morning!
¢ Consulting Editor GARY SERONIK has
been keeping an eye on the comings
and goings of the Moon and planets for
more than 50 years.
sk yand tele scope .o r g * MARCH 2022
47
Arcturus
Mar
17-18
LEO
Regulus
13
CANCER
Betelgeuse
18h
Vega
16h
14h
BOÖTES
12h
RIGHT ASCENSION
10h
8h
Castor
Pollux
GEMINI
9
Pleiades
Mar 6
TAURUS
ARIES
Uranus
6h
4h
2h
+20°
+30°
+40°
E C L I P T I C
DECLINATION

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Sky & Telescope - March 2022

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