I’m Rob Webb, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.  As usual, we’ll start by talking about where the naked eye planets are this month, move on to the lunar phases, and finish up with a calendar of events, so you can plan ahead better than me. 

 

March of 2024: Spring will start, Venus gets real close to Saturn, Jupiter is on its way out, and the mornings tease us with some challenging encounters between 3 planets. 

 

7th - 8th – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Venus, Mars – Get out between 5:30am and 6:30am and get a very clear look at the SE horizon.  During that hour, you should be able to see the Moon as a VERY thin crescent, with Venus very bright and 20˚ to the left of the Moon on the 7th.  It’ll probably be too bright, but Mars will be in between the two, a little closer to Venus. Then, on the 8th, the Moon will move to be below Venus and Mars, making a very nice almost equilateral triangle.

 

13th – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Moon, Jupiter – Get out after sunset, look W, and the Moon will be only 3˚ to the right of Jupiter.  

 

20th – Spring Equinox - Astronomically the first day of Spring, even though meteorologically Spring starts in the beginning of March.  Here’s some more info. 

 

22nd – CLOSE ENCOUNTER – Saturn, Venus – Just after 6:30am, if you can catch Venus rising in the East, Saturn will be less than 2˚ to the right.

 

25th – Penumbral Lunar Eclipse – Only a very slight dimming of the Moon. 

 

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