What's Up in the Night Sky

March 2025 - Vol. 29, No. 3

This Month's Night Sky - NOTE: The next paragraph describes the sky as it appears at 10 pm EST (11 pm EDT) near mid- month. The sky also looks this way at 11 pm EST (midnight EDT) during the beginning of the month and at 9 pm EST (10 pm EDT) by month's end.

The constellations Taurus, with its Pleiades (a tiny "dipper-like" asterism), Orion and the Winter Triangle are now sinking in the West. Castor and Pollux (the Gemini "twins") are shining in the NW while Capella (Auriga) glows above them. Regulus (Leo) shines high in the South as the wandering constellation Hydra appears to create a void below since it has no bright stars. The "Big Dipper" asterism (Ursa Major) high in the NE has appeared to "rotate" so its "handle" is now nearly horizontal. Spica (Virgo) and Arcturus (Bootes) are now rising in the East. Spring is coming!

MERCURY has its best evening apparition for observers in the northern hemisphere during the first two weeks of the month, afterwards diving into the Sun for inferior conjunction on March 24. VENUS, still prominent in the evening sky, will be return to the Sun for inferior conjunction on the 23rd. MARS is visible in the sky most of the night, starts the month at -.3 magnitude and ending the month at +0.4 magnitude. JUPITER is still moving through Taurus, still shining at magnitude -2.3. SATURN, too close to the Sun to be seen, reaches solar conjunction on March 12. URANUS, in Aries, is fading fast as it approaches solar conjunction. NEPTUNE won't be seen this month, reaching solar conjunction on March 20.

Review how to determine Angular Measurement.

Calendar of Events

NOTE: For those observers not in the ET zone, convert the calendar times to your zone's time by subtracting one hour for CT, two for MT and three for PT. Don't forget to adjust for Daylight Savings Time when necessary by subtracting one hour from your planisphere's time. Dawn and dusk times must also be corrected. See your local newspaper, TV news, or cable TV's Weather Channel for sunrise and sunset times or check with the U.S. Naval observatory. Unfortunately some of these events may occur during daylight hours in your area.

DATE	EVENT
01	Moon at perigee. Venus 6 deg. N. of Moon. Mercury .4 deg. N. of Moon, occultation from Kerguelen Is., Australia, Melanesia, most of Micronesia, NW Polynesia.
05	Moon 0.6 deg. N of the Pleiades star cluster (M-45). Mercury at perihelion.
06	Jupiter 6 deg. S. of Moon.
08	Mercury at greatest elongation E.
09	Daylight Saving Time begins for affected areas, clocks move forward 1 hour. Mercury at at greatest elongation E. Mars 1.7 deg. S. of Moon. Alpha Geminorum, Pollux, 2 deg. N. of Moon.
10	Mars at greatest heliocentric lat. N.
12	Saturn in conjunction with the Sun.
13	Venus at greatest heliocentric lat. N.
14	Total Lunar Eclipse. The entire eclipse will occur when the moon is over the Americas, with North America winning the totality prize. The full eclipse lasts six hours, with totality beginning at 6:26 UT, morning in the Americas. This month's Full Moon is called, the "Worm Moon" because this is the time the ground thaws and worms start moving in North America. Mercury stationary.
15	Mercury at greatest heliocentric lat. N.
16	Look West from a dark location, at about an hour after sunset, to view zodiacal light. ("Zodiacal light" is a vertical band of white light believed to be sunlight reflected from meteoroids found in the plane of the ecliptic, the apparent "path" of the Sun, Moon and Planets as they travel across our sky.) It will appear to be a very large, but very dim, pyramid of white light, "leaning" to the left. This effect may be visible for the next two weeks on dark nights. Alpha Virginis, Spica, 0.4 deg. N. of Moon, occultation from E. central Africa, Madagascar, S. tips of Australia and New Zealand, E. tip of Antarctica.
17	Moon at apogee.
20	Equinox, equal hours of night and day. Venus at perihelion. Neptune in conjunction with the Sun. Alpha Scorpii, Antares, 0.5 deg. N. of Moon, occultation from SE Indonesia, most of Australia, New Zealand, western Antarctica, S. tip of South America.
23	Venus at inferior conjunction.
24	Mercury at inferior conjunction.
28	Partial solar eclipse that favors the western coasts of Europe and northern Africa with 93 percent of the Sun's disk covered.
30	Moon at perigee, expect large tides.

Lunar Almanac for March 2025

Phases of the Moon	Phase and Date(s)	Best viewed before local midnight
	New 29	Deep Space Objects
	1st. Qtr 06	Planets & Moon
	Full 14	Moon
	Last Qtr 22	Deep Space & Planets

Topic of the month: Messier Marathon

Amateur astronomers hold Messier Marathons every March. Basically, it is an attempt to see as many objects as possible in one night. The Messier objects were cataloged by Charles Messier so that he could avoid mistaking the brightest objects for the comets he was hunting. These objects are among the brightest in the sky, easily captured in amateur instruments. It is because of the length of the night and the locations of the various objects that make the time frame near the March equinox optimum for finding the largest number of objects possible.

The Messier objects are deep sky objects, rather than planetary objects. These objects may be open or globular star clusters, galaxies, even bright nebula. Star clusters are a little easier to spot. Galaxies and nebula are extended objects, this means their light is spread out over a small area of the sky. Because of this, their magnitude estimates are integrated. Light pollution is a killer, so a dark site is needed for success.

The Moon is a big factor for finding and seeing the fainter objects. Every third year, the marathon is blessed to occur near a New Moon. Other years the Moon may be near first or last quarter, but the Full Moon is devastating. For 2025, the New Moon is on the 29th so there are two "official" dates for the marathon, March 22 and March 29. On the 22nd, the last quarter moon will interfere with the observations in the morning sky. On the 29th, the length of night is a little shorter. It might not seem like much, but the first objects are setting in the evening twilight and the last objects are rising in the morning twilight. This is also a consideration when an observer is trying to see as many of them as they can.

Here are some resources available at Astra's to assist amateur astronomer's wishing to take up the Messier Marathon challenge:

Holding a Messier Marathon - advice from Astra

Messier Marathon Sequence - Use this list for your Marathon Observations

The Binocular Messier Catalog - the best Messier binocular objects

There are many resources on the internet that can help with your Messier Marathon in 2025. Local Astronomy clubs often hold marathons and they provide information from their specific locations. They may even have an observing site that you can access. As usual, Astra recommends hooking up with your local astronomy organization, especially if you are a beginner. The organization Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, commonly known as SEDS, maintain good webpages on Messier Marathons as well as many other subjects. See SEDS Messier Marathon 2025 for information on this year's event. I am wishing you clear sky, whatever night you attempt the marathon.

--See You Under the Stars!
Astra for Astra's Almanac