Astroblog: Thursday March 14 to Thursday March 21

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Thursday March 14 to Thursday March 21

The First Quarter Moon is Sunday March 17. The Earth is at Equinox on the 20th. Jupiter is low in the north-western twilight sky and sets around an hour after the sky is fully dark. On the 14th the crescent Moon is near Jupiter. Venus is visible in the morning twilight below Mars. Saturn makes an appearance low in the morning twilight by midweek, and is close to Venus from the 19th.

The First Quarter Moon is Sunday March 17. The Earth is at Equinox on the 20th when the day is equal in length to the night.

Evening sky on Thursday, March 14 as seen from Adelaide at 20:30 ACDST (60 minutes after sunset). Jupiter is low above the north-western horizon and near to the crescent Moon. The inset is the telescopic view at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).

Morning sky on Saturday, March 16 as seen from Adelaide at 06:21 ACDST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Mars, Venus and Saturn form a line, you will need a level uncluttered horizon, and possibly binoculars, to see Saturn. The inset is the telescopic view at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

Morning sky on Thursday, March 21 as seen from Adelaide at 06:25 ACDST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Venus is below Mars and close to Saturn.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

Whole sky on Saturday, March 16 as seen from Adelaide at 21:08 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). Jupiter is low in the north-west.

Orion is now in the north-west. Bright Sirius is high in the north-western sky. Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are a wealth of binocular objects to discover. With the Moon waxing, this is still an excellent time to hunt the fainter clusters.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury is lost in the twilight.

Venus is in the morning twilight, it is sinking towards the horizon but will remain visible for all of March. Mars and Venus draw further apart. On the 21st Venus is below Mars and close to Saturn.

Mars is rising in the morning twilight and moving away from Venus.

Jupiter is visible low in the early evening twilight sky. On the 14th the crescent Moon is near Jupiter.

Saturn returns to the morning twilight. On the 21st Venus is close to Saturn.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky