THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
70 Falmouth Street      Portland, Maine 04103
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43.6667° N    70.2667° W  Altitude:  10 feet below sea level Founded
January 1970
2021-2022: LXXXVI
"I paint flowers so they will not die."
-Frida Kahlo

THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Wednesday, March 2, 2022
March 2022 Night Sky Calendar Part II

*WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2: MERCURY 0.7 DEGREES SE OF SATURN*
We'll begin the month with an early morning planetary appulse. See the
first and sixth worlds "close together" in the eastern pre-dawn sky. Of
course, Saturn is about 900 million miles farther away from us than
Mercury. At magnitude 0.0, Mercury will be about twice as bright as Saturn.
Both bodies will rise by 4:45 a.m.

*WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2: NEW MOON*
Don't bother seeking out the moon today as it will be in conjunction, or
the new moon phase.
This new moon begins lunation cycle  1227.

*SATURDAY, MARCH 5:  JUPITER IN CONJUNCTION*
Throughout most of the autumn and winter, Jupiter served as our evening sky
beacon.  Now that we're moving toward winter's end, Jupiter has vanished
into the dusk and today will move to the Sun's far side (from our
perspective).     Such a conjunction is termed *superior*,as opposed
to *inferior,
*which occurs when the planet moves between the Sun and Earth.    Although
every other planet can move into superior solar conjunction, only the
inferior planets Mercury and Venus can ever be in inferior conjunction.

*TUESDAY, MARCH 8:  MOON NEAR PLEIADES*
One will see the waxing crescent moon (33% illuminated) near the Pleiades
Star Cluster tonight.     We often see the moon appear to "glide by" the
Pleiades because this famous star cluster just happens to be located close
to the *ecliptic*, the Sun's apparent path through the sky.    Because it
appears to travel along a band centered on the ecliptic, the moon will also
seem to approach celestial bodies aligned close to it.    Note:  the
Pleiades and its host constellation Taurus are drawing ever closer to the
Sun and will dissolve into the dusk by late April.  Consequently, during
its next passage, the moon will be even "younger."

*WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9:  MOON NEAR ALDEBARAN*
Oh, but, of course...if the moon passes close to the Pleiades one day, it
will be destined to appear close to Aldebaran. the brightest star in Taurus
the Bull, the next day.   We can see the waxing crescent moon (42%
illuminated) moving north of Aldebaran tonight in the western early evening
sky.

*THURSDAY, MARCH 10:   FIRST QUARTER MOON*

*WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16:   VENUS 3.9 DEGREES NORTH OF MARS (BRONZE EVENT!)*
A perfect excuse to venture outside in the early morning.  One will see the
two closest planets to Earth less than four degrees apart in the pre-dawn
eastern sky.      One should experience NO difficulty distinguishing
between them as Venus (magnitude -4.2) will be 158 times brighter than Mars
(magnitude 1.2).       Both worlds will rise by 3:10 a.m.

Part III tomorrow!



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