Current Night Sky: March 2020

Daylight Saving Time begins at 2:00 am on Sunday, March 8 for most areas of the U.S. and Canada. In accordance with the adage, "spring forward, fall back," move your clocks ahead one hour; the minute after 1:59 am begins as 3:00 am.

The March Equinox occurs at 11:50 pm EDT on March 19. This represents the instant the Sun crosses the celestial equator on its way north. By convention, it is considered the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere and of fall in the southern hemisphere.

The Moon & Planets: 
sky chart

On the morning of March 18, the waning crescent Moon, bright Jupiter, and reddish Mars form an unusually tight grouping. Here, they are depicted as they would appear in the field of view of a typical set of 10x50 binoculars (yellow circle). Even Saturn (at far left) is trying to crash the party. Of course, the objects merely appear close to each other in our sky; in reality, they are at vastly different distances from us. Light from the Moon takes just 1.3 seconds to reach us. At the moment, Mars is 13 light-minutes away. Jupiter's light takes 46 minutes to reach us, while Saturn is 87 light-minutes distant (March 18, 2020, 5:00 am EDT).

sky chart

On March 24, the brilliant planet Venus reaches "greatest eastern elongation" as it sets in the west. Being a planet whose orbit lies entirely within that of Earth, it always hugs the Sun. At times like these, however, the planet lies at its greatest angular distance from the Sun (46°). It doesn't set until four hours after sunset; it is rare to see the planet against a truly dark sky. Through a telescope, the planet appears to be in "half-phase," with about 50% of its disk illuminated.

Evening Planets (after sunset): 
  • Venus, W
  • Uranus, SW
Morning Planets (before sunrise): 
  • Mars, SE
  • Jupiter, SE
  • Saturn, SE
  • Mercury, SE
Comets: 

There are no comets brighter than magnitude 8 currently visible.

Meteors: 

There are no major meteor showers in March.

Phases of the Moon: 
First Quarter Moon March 2 2:57 pm EST
Full Moon March 9 1:48 pm EDT
Last Quarter Moon March 16 5:34 am EDT
New Moon March 24 5:28 am EDT

Text, graphics, and animations by John Sheff. Graphics courtesy of Starry Night(©) Pro Plus 7 / Imaginova(©) Corp. Starry Night images are used with permission from Imaginova Corp. Starry Night is a registered trademark of Imaginova Corp. Star charts generated by Starry Night Pro Plus 7 © Imaginova Corp. All rights reserved. www.StarryNight.com