Night Sky Guide – March 2014
Tonight’s Sky: March 2014
Your guide to constellations, deep-sky objects, planets and events, Tonight’s Sky, Highlights of the March Sky
Evening Planets
After sunset, look for Jupiter shining high above the southern horizon.
A telescope will reveal the gas planet’s dark-colored bands.
Later in the evening, Mars rises in the east. It will remain visible throughout the rest of the night.
Constellations and Deep-Sky Objects
As the brilliant stars of winter progress toward the west, the constellations of spring make their appearance.
Two March constellations derived from Greek mythology, Gemini and Cancer, lie in the zodiac. The zodiac is the name for the band of sky through which the Sun, Moon, and planets appear to travel.
The Gemini twins lie high overhead. They were among Jason’s Argonauts, who sailed the seas searching for the Golden Fleece.
The two bright stars are the heads of the brothers, Castor and Pollux.
A fuzzy patch lies near the “feet” of the Gemini twins. Called M35, it is a pretty cluster of several hundred stars.
Cancer is often identified as a crab but has also been seen as a lobster or crayfish. In Greek mythology, Cancer was placed in the heavens by Hera, wife of Zeus, to immortalize its tenacious but futile battle with Hercules.
It is a much dimmer constellation than Gemini, and hard to see in light-polluted skies.
Within Cancer lies the lovely Beehive Cluster. Ancient stargazers called it “the cloudy star.” This large cluster contains hundreds of stars and lies about 577 light-years away from us.
Morning Planets
Saturn rises by midnight and will be visible until sunrise. Use a telescope to spy its glorious rings.
Before the Sun rises, turn to the east to see Venus blazing over the early morning horizon. A telescope can resolve its Moon-like phases.
The night sky is always a celestial showcase. Explore its wonders from your own backyard.
Credits
Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute, Office of Public Outreach
Starfield images created with Stellarium
Mythological constellation forms from Firmamentum
Sobiescianum sive Uranographia by Johannes Hevelius, courtesy of the United States Naval Observatory
Jupiter image courtesy of Todd Gross
Mars image courtesy of Matt Wedel
M35 image courtesy of N.A. Sharp/NOAO/AURA/NSF
Beehive Cluster image courtesy of the MicroObservatory Robotic Telescope Network
Saturn image courtesy of John Endreson
Venus image courtesy of Mario Weigand
Narrated by Nancy Calo
Music written by Jonn Serrie
Production Lucy Albert, Greg Bacon, John Bintz, John Godfrey, and Vanessa Thomas
