On many ancient calendars, March was the first month of the year. This makes sense because it was the time of year for new beginnings, such as the planting of crops. The last few months of the year get their name from that arrangement, by the way. Counting from March, September becomes the seventh month of the year, October the eighth month, and so forth. It’s also why Aries, the Ram, is usually written first when listing the Zodiac signs (if you’re into that sort of thing).
This month’s challenge for beginners: finding Leo, the Lion. One easy way to find Leo is to pretend that the cup of the Big Dipper has sprung a leak — the imaginary drip will take you straight to the lion. Leo has a very distinctive arc of stars that looks like a backward question mark and forms his head and chest. This asterism is called the Sickle. At the bottom of the arc is the bright, beautiful star Regulus. Meaning “little King,” it is also called the Heart of the Lion.
This month’s telescope/astrophotography challenge: the Beehive Cluster in Cancer. This cluster, M44 on the Messier list, is one of the brightest open clusters in the night sky. (Open clusters are relatively young stars that are formed from the same nebula of material.) It can be seen by the naked eye and, therefore, was known to the ancients such as Ptolemy. It will be high in the evening sky all month long — check it out!
Sky highlights this month:
- March 1. Launch of an Atlas V rocket by United Launch Alliance from Cape Canaveral. This mission will send an NOAA satellite into geostationary orbit.
- March 2 — New Moon. The best time of the month to look for Deep Sky Objects. So, take a telescope or binoculars and get out to a dark location.
- March 18 — Full Moon. Nicknamed the Worm Moon by some ancient Native American tribes for the time of year when the ground softened enough for earthworms to be seen again.
- March 20 — Vernal Equinox. Welcome to spring! Finally, the deep snows and icy roads of South Florida will begin to thaw… 😉. The direct rays of the Sun cross into the Northern Hemisphere on this date, and day and night are of (nearly) equal length.
- March 20. Venus will reach its greatest distance (“elongation”) from the morning Sun on this date. Be sure to catch this brilliant white diamond in the sky just before sunrise.
- March 30. Launch of a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket with a Crew Dragon capsule from SpaceX. This is a tourism mission planned by a private company called Axiom. This date may change.
March on, stargazers!