March stargazing is fantastic because you still have Orion and all of the great constellations of winter, but on most nights the chill of winter has eased a bit. Spring will begin, at least astronomically, on March 20.
Venus and Mars are still putting on a show in the very early low western sky for about one to two hours after sunset. Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, starts out the evening in the eastern sky and is by far the brightest star-like object in that part of the heavens and spends most of the rest of the night forging westward across the celestial dome. Unfortunately this week the planets will be the only distant celestial targets you can check out because we’ll have a more or less full moon most of this week, whitewashing the night sky.
Starting next weekend, though, you can really dig into the grand winter constellations like Orion the Hunter and his gang: the constellations Taurus the bull; Auriga the chariot driver turned goat farmer; the big and little dogs Canis Major and Minor; Gemini the Twins and of course, Orion the hunter, with his three perfectly aligned belt stars.
In the north sky, the Big Dipper is standing on its handle. The fainter Little Dipper is off to the left, hanging by its handle. The brightest star, Polaris, otherwise known as the North Star, shines at the end of the Little Dipper’s handle. All of the stars appear to circle around the North Star every 24 hours since it shines directly above the Earth’s North Pole.
Over in the northwest sky, look for the bright sideways “W” that is supposed to be the outline of Queen Cassiopeia tied up in her throne. The story goes that Hera, queen of the Greek gods, was angry with Cassiopeia for boasting that she was even more beautiful than Hera. The queen of the gods of Mount Olympus tied her up in a throne and cast her up into the heavens, where to this day and night she continues her endless circle around Polaris.
In the eastern sky right next to Jupiter, look for a distinctive backward question mark that outlines the chest and head of Leo the Lion, the first of the springtime constellations. Regulus is the moderately bright star at the bottom of the question mark that sits at Leo’s heart. As March continues, Leo will get higher and higher in the sky in the early evening, as the stars of Orion and his gang sink lower and lower in the west.
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and is author of the book, “Stars, a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations” published by Adventure Publications available at bookstores at http://www.adventurepublications.net
The Everett Astronomical Society welcomes new members and puts on public star parties. Their website is: http://www.everettastro.org/
Instructions for using the star map
To use this map, cut it out and attach it to a stiff backing. Hold it over your head and line up the compass points on the map’s horizon to the actual direction you’re facing. East and West on this map are not backwards. This is not a misprint. I guarantee that when you hold this map over your head, east and west will be in their proper positions. Also use a small flashlight and attach a red piece of cloth or red construction paper over the lens of the flashlight. You won’t lose your night vision when you look at this map in red light.
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