SkyEye

Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events.

March 2011

The Calendar

All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT).
Nightly darkness estimates are calculated for 45° N and 30° S.
Like total solar eclipses, lunar occultation events can be seen only from limited regions on Earth (and sometimes not at all if the occultation takes place during daylight hours). However, the Moon will appear close in the sky to its "target" for some hours either side of the actual occultation, regardless of where you are.

Date		Event
1	Tue
2	Wed
3	Thu
4	Fri	New Moon
5	Sat
6	Sun	Moon at apogee
7	Mon
8	Tue
9	Wed
10	Thu
11	Fri
12	Sat	3 Juno at opposition
12	Sat	First Quarter Moon
13	Sun
14	Mon
15	Tue	The waxing gibbous Moon sets early enough to allow useful observations of the Gamma Normids. Results from earlier years suggest a possible maximum anytime between 8 March and 18 March.
16	Wed
17	Thu
18	Fri
19	Sat	Full Moon at perigee: Not only is this the nearest perigee this year, but it occurs less than an hour after Full Moon, resulting in very high tides on Earth.
20	Sun	Equinox
21	Mon	Uranus at conjunction
22	Tue
23	Wed	Mercury at greatest elongation east
24	Thu
25	Fri
26	Sat	Last Quarter Moon
27	Sun
28	Mon
29	Tue
30	Wed
31	Thu

The Solar System

The word planet is derived from the Greek word for "wanderer." Unlike the background stars, planets seem to move around the sky, keeping mostly to a narrow track called the ecliptic, the path of the Sun across the stars. Dwarf planets and small solar-system bodies including comets, are not so constrained, often moving far above or below the ecliptic.

Sun: Aquarius » Pisces
The solar south pole is most inclined toward the Earth early this month. An equinox occurs on Earth on 20 March. The word equinox means "equal night" so that on this day, the (centre of the) Sun spends an equal amount of time above and below the horizon everywhere on the planet.
Mercury: Aquarius » Pisces
Poorly placed for observing from the southern hemisphere, the closest planet to the Sun rises well above the western horizon for northern sky watchers. At mid-month, the smallest planet in the solar system appears in the west alongside the largest planet in the solar system. Mercury reaches greatest elongation east on 23 March.
Venus: Sagittarius » Capricornus » Aquarius
The "morning star" is found high in the east before sunrise as viewed from southern latitudes. Northerners aren't so lucky; this brilliant planet appears much closer to the horizon for early risers.
Mars: Aquarius » Pisces
The red planet was at conjunction last month and is now a morning sky object, rising just ahead of the Sun.
3 Juno: Leo
A small telescope will be necessary to spot this ninth-magnitude asteroid at opposition on 5 March.
Jupiter: Pisces
Bright Jupiter is low in the west at sunset and disappears in the solar glare late in the month.
Saturn: Virgo
The ringed planet rises earlier and earlier in the evening as it approaches opposition next month.
Uranus: Pisces
This gas giant is unobservable this month as it is at conjunction on 21 March.
Neptune: Aquarius
A small telescope is necessary to view the most distant planet in the solar system but observations are difficult because Neptune was at conjunction last month and rises during morning twilight.

The Celestial Sphere

Constellations are patterns of stars in the sky. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recognises 88 different constellations. The brightest stars as seen from the Earth are easy to spot but do you know their proper names? With a set of binoculars you can look for fainter objects such as nebulae and galaxies or some of the closest stars to the Sun.

Descriptions of the sky for observers in both the northern and southern hemispheres are available for the following times this month. Subtract one hour from your local time if summer (daylight savings) time is in effect.

Local Time	Northern Hemisphere	Southern Hemisphere
1730 hours (1830 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
1930 hours (2030 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
2130 hours (2230 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
2330 hours (0030 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
0130 hours (0230 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
0330 hours (0430 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S
0530 hours (0630 hours summer time)	45° N	30° S

For More Information...

Consult our online glossary for non-technical explanations of many of the astronomical terms used in these pages.
Blue moons, eclipses, the dates of Easter and much more can be found at the Interactive Astronomy Pages.
For more information about the objects and events described in SkyEye, visit these astronomy-related sites.

Credits

Much of this information can be found in this month's issue of your favourite amateur astronomy magazine available in your local bookshop. Another excellent source is the current edition of the Astronomical Calendar by Guy Ottewell and published by the Universal Workshop.

The SkyEye banner features the beautiful planetary nebula NGC 2818. A planetary nebula is a glowing shell of gas surrounding a dying star. When a star begins to run out of fuel and expands into a red giant, the outer layers of the star are expelled into space, enriching the surrounding area with the heavy elements manufactured by the parent star. The remaining hot stellar core ionises the ejecta, causing it to glow for a few tens of thousands of years. Eventually the star fades away and nebula is no longer visible. This image was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in November 2008 and is courtesy NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). The red colour represents nitrogen, green represents hydrogen and blue represents oxygen.