~ St. Maarten’s Backyard Astronomy for March 14 - 16 ~
Sun rises at 6:20am
Sun sets at 6:22 pm
Lunar phase: full worm moon
Moon sets at 7:01am, Saturday
Moon rises at 7:36pm, Saturday
This weekend, we have a full moon sure to take control of the night skies! The full moon of March is named the Full Worm Moon, in honour of the wakening of spring, as the frozen soil releases its grip of the small creatures such as the lowly worm. Of course, we here in the Caribbean, with our tropical environment, means we have little experience of such things; but we still recognize the moon that celebrates the worm!
Before the moon rises high, just after sunset, look west to see the brilliant planet Venus and then look up! There you can find Jupiter and Mars among the stars of the Winter Circle. Orion the Hunter is prominent in the Winter Circle and his three-star belt is helpful to identify the two planets and some other impressive twinkles!
Follow the three-star belt up to locate Aldebaran the eye of Taurus the Bull. Jupiter is quite close to Aldebaran this weekend. Follow the three-star belt down towards the southern horizon to locate Sirius the Dog Star, the brightest true star in all of our heavens! Now look back at Orion, move your eyes up from his belt towards his head and find the bright star Betelgeuse (yes, it’s pronounced Beetle Juice). Now move your eyes down towards Orion’s feet to find the star Rigel. Draw a straight imaginary line from Rigel to Betelgeuse and keep going. You will land near Mars, currently located in the constellation of Gemini the Twins.
But stand by, because this week we had a total lunar eclipse! That’s when the earth’s shadow covers or nearly covers the entire full moon! Here in the Caribbean, we had more than 97% coverage. Not only that, but the shadow took on a reddish coloration, giving it the name Blood Moon Eclipse!
The lunar eclipse began on Thursday night, or more accurately, Friday morning, at about 1:15am and reached totality about 2:30am. The eclipse passed about 4:15am.
Thank you for keeping up with the Night Sky articles, backyard (or beach) astronomy designed for St. Maarten sky viewing. FYI: If you are out later on in the week, note that 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.
