The March Sky

Paul Curtin

Northern spring turns our eyes away from our own Milky Way and towards a fascinating array of groups and clusters of distant galaxies.
Western Ursa Major, the dark region that precedes the Big Dipper, is festooned with faint, distant galaxies. Two of the more easily located are M80 and M81. Kepple and Sanner have excellent finder charts for these objects.

Beneath Ursa Major we find the lions: Leo Minor and Leo Major. Leo Minor looks like an elongated diamond on its side. It is rather sparse, though a small number of faint galaxies might tempt those with very dark skies. Western Leo Major, a sickle shape atop bright Regulus, likewise harbors few easy objects. Next month we will see that it is the eastern sector of this constellation that bears close scrutiny.

Between the Leo’s and Gemini one observes the tiny box shape with spiky arms that is Cancer. At the very center of the box is M44, the Beehive Cluster or Praesepe. This large open cluster is best viewed with binoculars or a very wide field telescope. Early in the month it is possible to compare the blue-hot Pleiades with M44’s more mature, less flashy constituents. Try to locate M67, a fainter, more compact open cluster near alpha cancri.

South of Cancer is the head of Hydra. This asterism looks like a tiny version of Cepheus. Hydra wends its way eastward almost to the summer sky. The region visible in March has little to explore except the faint but distinct open cluster M48 that hovers in the dark zone near Monoceros.

Southern observers, with the start of Autumn, can enjoy both the riches of the Milky Way and a view beyond. Antlia, faint and overshadowed by the Milky Way clouds of nearby Pyxis and Puppis, has a sprinkling of galaxies for those wishing to test their star hopping skills.

In contrast, Crux, cradled by Centaurus, has bright stars, a stunning compact open cluster (NGC 4755, the Jewel Box) exhibiting a variety of star color types, and the Coalsack, the most distinct dark nebula in the sky.

The Planets in February

Mercury is out of view at the beginning of March, but can be glimpsed in the early morning sky at the end of the month.

Venus is still bright but getting progressively lower in the early morning sky.

Mars can be seen in the west after dusk. In the south it sets soon after the sun.

Jupiter can be seen in the late night sky.

Saturn is the planet of the month. It can be found in Cancer.

Bibliography

Burnham, Robert Jr., Burnham's Celestial Handbook, New York: Dover, 1978.

Dobbins, T. A., Parker, D., Capen, C. F. Observing and Photographing the Solar System, Richmond, VA: Willman-Bell, 1992.

Jones, K.G. (ed.), Webb Society Deep-Sky Observers Handbook, Volume. 3, Hillside, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1980.

Kepple, G. R., Sanner, G. W., The Night Sky Observers Guide, Richmond, Virginia: Willman-Bell, 1999.

Price, F. W., The Planet Observer’s Handbook, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

Tirion, W., Rappaport, B., Remaklus, W., Uranometria Deep Sky Atlas, Richmond, Virginia: Willman-Bell, 2000.

Webb, T. W., Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes, New York: Dover, 1962.