~ St. Maarten’s Backyard Astronomy for March 31 – April 2 ~
Sun rises at 6:07am
Sun sets at 6:25pm
Moon phase: full moon, “Blue Moon”
Blue moon, you saw me standing alone, without a dream in my heart with a love of my own...
The term “blue moon” has been around since the 1940s. Although it sounds very romantic, the name is simply used to indicate that it’s the second full moon to appear within a calendar month. This only happens about once every three years or so, but this year we have had two blue moons (the first was in January)!
Because February had only 28 days, this year’s full moon carried over to March, confirming the March 31 full moon would be a “blue” one. The “blue moon” will reach peak fullness on March 31. Don’t miss it! The next blue moon won’t come around again until spring 2019.
At the end of this long weekend, when the “just past full blue moon” rises, Saturn and Mars will appear together. Red Mars and golden Saturn have been edging toward each other – day by day – and their conjunction comes on April 2. Plus... you can see Jupiter, a very bright planet, near the moon late at night on April 1 or early in the morning on April 2. In fact, the moon and Jupiter can help you find Mars and Saturn!
Mars and Saturn rise from the eastern horizon around 1:00am Sunday. The moon and Jupiter come up earlier. Jupiter follows the moon into the sky around 9:30pm and the moon, of course, being full, rises at sunset – give or take a few minutes.
By the predawn hours on April 2, the moon and Jupiter will have moved over into the western half of the sky. If you’re up at that early hour, draw an imaginary line from the moon through Jupiter to locate Mars and Saturn. It’s a long jump from the moon and Jupiter to Mars and Saturn, but you should be able to pick them out, because Mars and Saturn are bright and close together on the sky’s dome. Just don’t let the star Antares fool you. It’s about the same brightness and redness as Mars!
From anywhere worldwide, get up about 90 minutes (or sooner) before sunrise to view Mars and Saturn in the predawn/dawn sky. At conjunction on April 2, Mars passes a rather scant 1.3° south of Saturn. (For some perspective, 1.3° on the sky’s dome is approximately equal to the width of your little finger at an arm’s length. These two colourful celestial gems will easily fit within the same binocular field for another week or so. Well worth the effort to rise early with binoculars and a cup of coffee!
Thank you for keeping up with the Night Sky articles. If you are out later on in the week, each star rises about four minutes earlier each day than written here, and the moon rises 50 minutes later. Night Sky is researched and compiled by Lisa Davis-Burnett. Earthsky.org is a key resource for information and images. Questions or comments? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
