Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events. All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT). Nightly darkness estimates are calculated for Greenwich, London (51.5° N, 0° W).

Calendar of Events - March 2005

Date Event
1 Tue
2 Wed
3 Thu The Last Quarter Moon occults the first-magnitude star Antares starting about 1000 UT. This event will be visible for most of the lower 48 states in the United States plus Mexico.
4 Fri
5 Sat
6 Sun
7 Mon
8 Tue Moon at perigee
9 Wed
10 Thu New Moon
11 Fri
12 Sat Mercury at greatest elongation east
13 Sun Dark skies mean that this is an excellent year to view the Gamma Normids meteor shower.
14 Mon
15 Tue
16 Wed
17 Thu First Quarter Moon
18 Fri
19 Sat Moon at apogee
20 Sun Earth at equinox
21 Mon
22 Tue
23 Wed Minor planet 2 Pallas reaches opposition in the constellation Virgo but you will need binoculars or a small telescope to see this seventh-magnitude object.
24 Thu
25 Fri Full Moon
26 Sat Parts of Antarctica will see the Moon occult Jupiter.
27 Sun
28 Mon
29 Tue Mercury at inferior conjunction
30 Wed Beginning around 1600 UT, northeast Asia and the northern Pacific regions (including Hawaii) will see the Moon occult the bright star Antares.
31 Thu Venus at superior conjunction

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.

Sun
Location: Aquarius -> Pisces
Mercury
Location: Pisces
The closest planet to the Sun begins the month rising higher in the western sky after sunset. By mid-month, it is falling towards the horizon and soon disappears for southern hemisphere observers. Views of this elusive planet are better in the nothern hemisphere, with Mercury staying above the horizon until late into the month.
Venus
Location: Aquarius -> Pisces -> Cetus -> Pisces
The "morning star" is virtually unviewable this month as it is very low in the east just before sunrise and getting lower on its way to superior conjunction on the last day of the month.
Mars
Location: Sagittarius -> Capricornus
The red planet rises early in the morning.
Jupiter
Location: Virgo
Jupiter is approaching opposition next month so it is rising ever earlier in the evening. Observers in the Antarctic regions can look for its occultation by the Moon on 26 March.
Saturn
Location: Gemini
Easy to spot during the evening, the ringed planet sets about the time Mars rises in the early morning.
Uranus
Location: Aquarius
This faint planet is difficult to see in the east just before sunrise.
Neptune
Location: Capricornus
Rising an hour before Uranus, this gas giant is equally hard to find in the morning sky.
Pluto
Location: Serpens (Cauda)
With a brightness of around fourteenth magnitude, the smallest planet in the solar system can be seen only through a good-sized telescope. It rises a little after midnight.

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...

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 at Furman University.

The image of the Sun in the SkyEye banner is courtesy of the SOHO/EIT consortium. The composite image from May 1998 combines EIT images from three wavelengths (171Å, 195Å and 284Å) into one that reveals solar features unique to each wavelength. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

Obliquity Valid XHTML 1.0! Copyright © 1995-2005 by David Harper and L.M. Stockman
All Rights Reserved
Designed and maintained by Obliquity
Last modified on 28 February 2005
https://www.obliquity.com/skyeye/archive/2005/mar2005.html