Tour of the Sky: March 2007
1 Mar 2007, 15:43 UTC
Download this month's sky map!
Kym Thalassoudis does a wonderful job creating accurate and easy to use star
maps every month! Visit his site at www.skymaps.com for skymaps and links to
other useful astronomical sites. Also a great portal for astronomical gifts!
Northern hemisphere sky
mapSouthern hemisphere sky
map
Those in the Southern Hemisphere should also visit
James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere December
sky.
Another great site for Southern Hemisphere viewers is the Royal Astronomical
Society of New Zealand's Southern Hemisphere Calendar can be found at the RASNZ siteIan
Musgrave has a very handy Southern Hemisphere site called Southern Sky Watch.
Download "What's up
2007: 365 days of Skywatching" by Tammy Plotner, published by Universe Today
(Faser Cain) it is a fantastic and it is free!
Planets for March 2007
Mercury After the first week of March look for Mercury in the morning
twilight, for Northern observers your lower latitudes are more favorable. For
S.H. viewers Mercury puts on its best show all year. On the 23rd look for the
0.2 mag planet 10 deg even before astronomical twilight and will stand out in
the dark eastern sky 2.8 mag (1st) to 0.2 mag (21st)
Venus Brilliant for both N.H. and S.H. observers. Shining right
through the clouds in the Pac NW! Telescopes will show Venus as small and more
than 80 percent illuminated -3.8 mag (1st) to - 3.9 mag (21st)
Mars In Capricornus rises after Jupiter and about 1.5 hours before the
Sun 1.3 mag (1st) to 1.2 mag (21st)
Jupiter In Ophiuchus rising mid-month around midnight making it easier
to squeeze into night time observing. For those of you who like the early
morning observing Jupiter you will find him NW of Antares in a beautiful part of
the sky, just West of Sagittarius. On the 3rd Jupiter is 90 deg West of the sun
providing observers with shadows thrown farthest west and a greater chance of
Galilean satellite eclipses. -2.0 mag (1st) to -2.2 mag (21st)
SaturnBeautiful and high in the ESE at dusk. Saturn creeps further
West away from Regulus but still near the paws of the Lion. 0.0 mag (1st) to 0.1
mag (21st)
Uranus 5.9 mag (1st) to 5.9 mag (21st)
Neptune will camp out in Capricorn all year long 8.0 mag (1st) to 8.0
mag (21st).
Key Dates for March 2007
Days and Times in UT (help with
time) Great site for sunrise and
sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards
Observations are for 9pm for everyone...happy Equinox!
Astronomical Highlights
March
3
-Full Moon 23:17 UT
-Total Lunar
Eclipse
5
-Uranus in conjunction with the Sun
6
-Zodiacal Light visible in N lat. in the West after evening twilight for
next two weeks
-Sun's N pole most inclined (7.25 deg)away from Earth
7
-Mercury stationary
-Moon at apogee 4:00 UT
-Spica 1.3deg N of Moon
11
-Daylight Saving Time begins (goofy Congress)
-Antares 0.7deg N of Moon, possible occultation, check IOTA for
occultation at your location (Antarctica, southern part of S. America)
12
-Last Quarter Moon 3:54UT
16
-Mars 1.9deg N of Moon 1:00 UT
17
-Mercury 1.4deg N of Moon, possible occultation, check IOTA for
occultation at your location
19
-New Moon 2:43 UT, partial
solar eclipse
-Moon at perigee Large tides
21
-Equinox 0:07 UT
22
-Mercury at greatest elongation W (28 deg)
25
-First Quarter 18:16 UT
28
-Moon 1.8 deg N of M44 (Beehive Cluster)
29
-Saturn 1.2 deg S of Moon, possible occultation, check IOTA for
occultation at your location (N British Isles, N Scand., N Atlantic, E
Greenland)
30
-Regulus 1.1 deg S of Moon, possible occultation, check IOTA for
occultation at your location (W Europe including British Isles, Scand., Arctic
regions)
Monthly Messier*This month
highlights 10 messier objects, most are within reach of binoculars, and over
half can be seen with the naked eye.
M41 - This cluster is
visible as a hazy patch to the naked eye just below Sirius in Canis Major. M41
is resolvable in binoculars and appears fairly loose in telescopes at low power.
M93 - This is a small
fuzzy patch of light in Puppis, partially resolvable in binoculars. The hardest
part of finding this cluster in binoculars is picking it out of a fairly rich
region of the Milky Way. Use low power to examine this cluster and the
surrounding richness in a telescope. Medium power provides a nice view of the
cluster itself.
M47 - A bright cluster
in Puppis, easily visible as a hazy patch to the naked eye. Binoculars will show
a large hazy patch with many stars resolvable. Telescopes show a fairly loose
cluster with stars of wide variety of magnitudes.
M46 - This cluster is
right next to M47 and is also visible to the naked eye. In binoculars M46
appears as a large hazy patch with no stars resolvable, giving a nice contrast
to M47. In telescopes at low powers this cluster evenly fills the eyepiece.
While you are here go to medium or high power and look for the planetary nebula
NGC2438. It will appear as a faint uneven ring, with a blue/green color.
M50 - An open cluster
in Monoceros. This is a small hazy patch in binoculars, partially resolvable.
Like M93, the richness of the surrounding field is the only difficulty in
finding this object. This is a fairly tight cluster at low power in a telescope.
M48 - Moving on to
Hydra, we find another naked eye cluster. M48 is a large fuzzy patch in
binoculars, partially resolvable. Use low to medium power in your telescope for
a spectacular view.
M67 - In the southeast
portion of Cancer is another open cluster, barely visible as a fuzzy patch to
the naked eye. Binoculars show M67 as a large hazy patch of light, similar to
M46. Use low power to resolve this large, rich cluster in a telescope.
M44 - Known as the
Praesepe or Beehive Cluster, this open cluster is easily visible to the naked
eye as a large, fuzzy patch bigger than the moon. Binoculars or rich field
telescopes provide the best view of M44.
M81, M82 - This pair of galaxies in
Ursa Major are very possible to see in binoculars, they look like a pair of
fuzzy stars. Both galaxies will fit into the same low power telescope field. M81
will appear as a large oval gray patch of light. M82 is a pencil like streak of
light next to and perpendicular to the long axis of M81.
*Monthly
Messier information gleaned from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada,
Moncton Centre Quebec and from the Astronomy Connection website.
Astronomical Highlights for 2007
Earth's major motions for 2007
Perihelion
Jan 3 20h(UT)
First Cross Quarter Day
Feb 2-6
Equinox
Mar 21 00:07(UT)
Second Cross Quarter Day
May 4-7
Solstice
June 21 18:06(UT)
Aphelion
July 4 00h (UT)
Third Cross Quarter Day
Aug 5-8
Equinox
Sept 23 19:51(UT)
Fourth Cross Quarter Day
Nov 5-8
Solstice
Dec 22 06:08(UT)
Planet Positions for 2007
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Venus
Sgr
Aqr
Psc
Ari
Tau
Gem
Leo
Sex
Cnc
Leo
Leo
Vir
Mars
Oph
Sgr
Cap
Cap
Aqr
Psc
Ari
Tau
Tau
Gem
Gem
Gem
Jupiter
Oph
Oph
Oph
Oph
Oph
Oph
Oph
Oph
Oph
Oph
Oph
Oph
Saturn
Leo
Leo
Leo
Leo
Leo
Leo
Leo
Leo
Leo
Leo
Leo
Leo
Uranus
Aqu
Aqu
Aqu
Aqu
Aqu
Aqu
Aqu
Aqu
Aqu
Aqu
Aqu
Aqu
Neptune
Cap
Cap
Cap
Cap
Cap
Cap
Cap
Cap
Cap
Cap
Cap
Cap
Eclipses for 2007
March 19 - partial solar eclipse (see map, times, and
animation!): The first
solar eclipse of 2007 occurs at the Moon's ascending node in Pisces and is
visible from eastern Asia and parts of northern Alaska
September 11 - partial solar eclipse (see map, times, and
animation): The last
eclipse of 2007 is a partial solar eclipse at the Moon's descending node in
southern Leo. Its visibility is confined to parts of South America, Antarctica
and the South Atlantic
March 3-4 - total lunar eclipse (see
map): The beginning of the umbral phase visible in the Arctic region,
Africa, Europe, Asia except for extreme eastern region, most of Indonesia,
western Australia, Queen Maud Land of Antarctica, extreme eastern South America,
Greenland, the Indian Ocean, the South Atlantic Ocean, and the eastern North
Atlantic Ocean; the end visible in Africa, Europe, western Asia, Queen Maud Land
of Antarctica and Antarctic Peninsula, South America, eastern North America,
Greenland, the Arctic region, the Atlantic Ocean, the western Indian Ocean, and
the extreme eastern South Pacific Ocean.
August 28 - total lunar eclipse (see
map): The beginning of the umbral phase visible in North America, South
America except extreme east, Antarctica except for Enderby Land, New Zealand,
eastern Australia, extreme northeastern Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and the western
Atlantic Ocean; the end visible in New Zealand, Australia, most of Antarctica
except Queen Maud Land, Indonesia, eastern Asia, western North America, the
Pacific Ocean, and the southeastern Indian Ocean.
Eclipse information from:
NASA Eclipse
Homepage, Eclipses Online (HM
Nautical Almanac Office, UK in coordination with the U.S. Naval
Observatory)
Meteor Showers for 2007
As luck would have it, all the major meteor showers reach their peaks
in 2007 with the Moon out of the sky. Any of these showers can produce dozens of
shooting stars each dark hour leading up to dawn.
Mark your calendar to look
for...
Lyrids on April 23rd
Perseids on August 13th
Orionids on October 21st
Leonids on November 18th
Geminids on the night of December 13-14 (Meteor enthusiasts are keenly
awaiting the Geminids in 2007 because their progenitor, the defunct comet
Phaethon, precedes them in a flyby of Earth on December 10th.)
Comets for March
Gary Kronk's comet and
meteor pagesSkyhound
Comet pages
Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat or write us a
favorable review in iTunes of Podcast Pickle or iPodder!
Music Scottish Guitar
Quartet -"Romance within you"The
Gentle Good - "Heuldro Haf"Scottish Guitar Quartet
-"Circle"
