With March comes the end of winter, giving way to spring and the increase in temperatures that this entails. Perhaps this better weather will encourage you to go out to the countryside to enjoy a day in nature. And since there is no complete day without its night, let’s stop and see what the night sky has in store for us during this third month of the year .
At the beginning of the month, until the 11th, the Sun will be above the constellation of Aquarius, moving to Pisces until April. This is probably not too satisfying to those who validate the pseudoscience that is astrology, for not agreeing with what it says. In addition we will not be able to see it, because the Sun and the dispersion of its light in the atmosphere will prevent us. Something that we can measure and that does affect our lives (although not immediately) will be the passage of the Sun through the celestial equator . This step is what is known as equinox. This month, specifically, the spring equinox will occur, which is the moment in which the Sun goes from being below the celestial equator to being above it , seen from the northern hemisphere. The celestial equator is nothing more than the projection of the circle described by the terrestrial equator on the celestial vault . This will happen on March 20, exactly at 3:33 p.m. At that time we can say that the astronomical spring has begun.
But let us leave the day behind and enter the night. During the month of March the winter constellations will give way to the spring constellations . The Pleiades, Orion, and Taurus will set earlier and earlier, although they will still be visible during the early evening hours. Orion and Taurus are home to two fantastic examples of red stars: Betelgeuse and Aldebaran . Both are quite bright and clearly more reddish or orange in color than other stars such as Rigel , also in the Orion constellation. The constellation of Canis Major, with Sirius in the lead, will also disappear. Sirius is the most visible star in the night sky. This star is actually a double system , formed by a blue giant, responsible for the brightness that we observe from Earth, accompanied by a white dwarf, a star with the mass of the Sun but the size of the Earth.
During March, some constellations such as Gemini, Cancer, Leo or Virgo will gain prominence . These constellations, despite being well known for being part of the horoscope, are more difficult to identify than others like Orion. Castor and Pollux , the head of the twins, allow us to place Gemini. If, once located, we move the view to the east, we will reach Regulus , the brightest star in Leo. Doubling the distance traveled we will reach Spica , the brightest star in Virgo.
As far as the Moon is concerned, we will start the month with a new moon, which will reach its minimum brightness on Wednesday afternoon, March 2 . About two weeks later, on March 18, the full moon will take place , reaching its maximum brightness shortly after sunrise. This full moon just 2 days before the start of spring is responsible for Easter falling so late this year. The church uses the first full moon of spring to assign the day that will occur that year called Resurrection Sunday.
The planets will have quite a party this March, with several conjunctions occurring between 2 of them and even between 3 of them, with a little Moon included. The main problem in observing all this will be that it will occur very close to the Sun and will only be visible at dawn and for a short time . We start the month with Venus and Mars located very close, but with Saturn and Mercury even closer together. So much so that they can be seen together through binoculars or low magnification telescopes . During the morning of March 21, Jupiter and Mercury will also be very close together, although this will be very difficult to visualize, occurring a few minutes before sunrise.
It will be easier and more spectacular to see the triple conjunction of Saturn, Venus and Mars shortly before sunrise that we will already begin to be able to enjoy around March 24, but that will reach its maximum splendor during the first hours of March 28, when at These three planets will join a waning moon . This incredible astronomical coincidence will take place the day after the time change at the end of March (at dawn on March 27 at 2:00 it will be 3:00). We invite those of you who have the opportunity to try to observe this phenomenon, which will be visible between 6:30 and 7:30 in the morning approximately (it will depend on where you are in Spain, occurring earlier in the Balearic Islands and later in Galicia or Canary Islands).
For those of you who have more experience in observing the night sky, Uranus will be visible throughout the month in the early hours of the night , until midnight. In addition, the asteroid Vesta will be located between Venus and Mars at the beginning of the month , making it easy to locate, although March will not be a particularly good time for observation, having to wait until mid-August for it to reach its maximum brightness this year.
