Sun rises at 6:11am
Sun sets at 6:24pm
Moon phase: 4th quarter, crescent waning
Moon rises at 4:26am
Moon sets at 3:15pm
Westward Ho!
The westward shift of the sky throughout each night is due to Earth's rotation on its axis. Meanwhile, the westward shift of the stars throughout the year is due to Earth's motion as it orbits around the sun. The Earth's orbital motion causes our night sky to offer an ever-shifting panorama.
You’ll notice the “westering” of familiar constellations such as Orion. The hunter and his associated Winter Circle used to be overhead around 8:00pm in February, now the hunter constellation’s recognizable three-star belt is handing quite west at that time. All the stars follow this pattern, not so the planets which wander their own paths through the stars.
Bye-bye Venus, Hello Mercury
We have been able to admire the glorious planet Venus, the evening star, for months now. Each night after sunset, her bright light has been an eye-catching bling in the western sky. But Venus trades her time in the evening with duty as the morning star. And right now is her time to switch places. To do this, she passes through the glare of the sun. In a week’s time, Venus will precede the sun in the eastern sky, which is to say she will become “the morning star.” This switcheroo takes place every 584 days, and astronomers call it the inferior conjunction, a rather boring sounding term, so we at Weekender will stick with switcheroo.
Meanwhile Mercury is now entering the evening sky, and in fact it is about to stage its best performance of 2017. To observe Mercury, you must find an unobstructed western horizon and then seek the sunset point on the horizon some 30 to 45 minutes after the sun goes down. Day by day, Mercury will climb upward from the setting sun each night and by the end of March, Mercury will be at its best, most sight-able, position.
Mercury is gaining brightness and is nearly as brilliant as Sirius, the brightest true star of the night-time sky. It’s fun to see this bright world. Mercury is about 12 times brighter than the red planet Mars, which is also in the evening sky and – despite being fainter – is a much more reliable object to spot on these March evenings. That’s because Mars stays out until well after nightfall, giving it a dark background from which to stand out.
Two other planets are also in view in the March 2017 night sky. At early- to mid-evening, look eastward to see Jupiter. The ringed planet of Saturn rises from the east southeast after 1:00am and can be located close to a bright red star Antares in the constellation Scorpius.
Watch for the waxing crescent moon to meet up with Mars on March 30 and the Pleiades star cluster on March 31. The new moon means no moonlight, so enjoy those dark skies this weekend, great for stargazing!
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.
