What's Up in the Night Sky

March 2026 - Vol. 30, 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 reaches inferior conjunction on the evening sky on March 7, favoring the southern hemisphere. VENUS will be visible in the evening sky through September. MARS will not be visible for northern observers. JUPITER shines brightly in the evening until after midnight. SATURN in conjunction with the Sun. URANUS, is setting in the evening sky. NEPTUNE, is in conjunction this month.

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	Mercury at greatest heliocentric lat. N.
02	Alpha Leonis, Regulus, 0.4 deg. S. of Moon, occultation from E. Kazakhstan, northern China, southern Russia, NE Micronesia and N Polynesia.
03	This month's full Moon is called, the "Worm Moon" because this is the time of year that earthworms begin appearing in North America. Total lunar eclipse, visible from the Pacific Ocean, western North America, Japan, New Zealand, and most of Australia. The greatest eclipse is over the Pacific Ocean with totality lasting 59 minutes.
05	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.
06	Alpha Virginis, Spica, 1.9 deg. N. of Moon.
07	Mercury at inferior conjunction.
08	Daylight Savings begins for affected areas. Venus 1.0 deg. N. of Saturn.
10	Moon at apogee. Alpha Scorpii, Antares, 0.7 deg. N. of Moon, occultation from S Polynesia, Antarctic, S. Georgia, and Sandwich Is.
11	Jupiter stationary.
17	Mercury 2.0 deg. N. of Moon. Mars 1.5 deg. S. of Moon.
19	Mercury stationary.
20	Venus 5.0 deg. S. of Moon. Equinox, length of day and night is equal.
22	Moon at perigee. Neptune in conjunction with the Sun.
23	Moon in Pleiades star cluster (M-45).
25	Saturn in conjunction with the Sun.
26	Mars at perihelion. Jupiter 4 deg. S. of Moon.
28	Moon 1.2 deg. N. of the Beehive star cluster (M-44).
29	Alpha Leonis, Regulus, 0.4 deg. S. of Moon, occultation from NE Canada, S tip of Greenland, most of Europe, northern Africa, southern Asia, parts of East Asia.

Lunar Almanac for February 2026

Phases of the Moon	Phase and Date(s)	Best viewed before local midnight
	New 19	Deep Space Objects
	1st. Qtr 25	Planets & Moon
	Full 03	Moon
	Last Qtr 11	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 2026, the New Moon is on the 19th so there are two "official" dates for the marathon, March 20 and March 15. On the 14th, the moon is past last quarter and will not interfere much with the observations in the morning sky. On the 20th, the length of night is a little shorter, but the new moon on the 19th and Spring Equinox makes this one of the best years for the marathon. 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 2026. 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 2026 for information on this year's event. I am wishing you clear skies, whatever night you attempt the marathon.

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