Total Lunar Eclipse and the Night Sky in March
I noticed one benefit of the time change the Monday morning after: a great view of the constellations that had been hidden behind the clouds of winter. At 5:00 am we had dark (no Moon), clear skis and mild temperatures comfortable enough to linger and look. The panorama started with Leo in the southwest just beginning to go behind the trees, followed by Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius rising above the trees in the southeast. This is what you would see in the evening sky in August. The view was rounded out by the Big Dipper overhead; Cassiopeia hugging the northern horizon; and the Summer Triangle in the eastern sky.
The biggest event in March is a total lunar eclipse on the night of March 13th to 14th. After midnight on Thursday evening, the full moon will begin to darken very slightly. After 1:10 am the Moon will enter the dark portion (umbra) of the shadow and will look like a bite has been taken out of the southeastern side (a partial eclipse). As more of the Moon is covered, it will take on an orange glow as light bent by the Earth’s atmosphere illuminates the darkened surface. Totality (when the Moon is completely in the Earth’s darkest shadow) will start after 2:35 am and end around 3:30 am. The partial phase will end at about 4:50 am and all traces of darkening will be gone by 6:00 am.
A lunar eclipse happens when the Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow. These events are much more common than a total solar eclipse, like the one we viewed last April. because anyone who is on the night side of the planet can view a total or partial lunar eclipse, unlike a solar eclipse for which viewing follows much narrower path across the surface of the daytime Earth. Two to three lunar eclipses occur each year around the globe. For example, in 2024 we saw partial lunar eclipses in March and September. One may wonder why a lunar eclipse do not happen every month and the reason is that the Moon’s orbit is inclined 5° from the plane containing the Sun and the Earth. Most of time when the full moon phase happens, the Moon is not in a strait line with the Sun and the Earth. It is slightly above or below the shadow as it passes behind the Earth.
The planetary parade of February has ended with Saturn and Neptune no longer visible. However, the other planets are still viewable. Currently, Venus is visible in the west right after sunset. It is easily seen on a clear night. Mercury is located below and to the left of Venus but is about 12 times dimmer. One the evening of the 13th, they reach the same level. By the 20th both will be lost in the twilight of sunset. Venus reappears in the morning sky a week later and will be visible an hour before sunrise by the 31st.
The rest of the planets are not this complicated. Uranus sets at about 11:30 pm but cannot be seen without binoculars or a telescope because it is too dim. Jupiter starts the evening slightly west of directly overhead and sets around 12:30 am all month. To find it look for the brightest object above the V shape in Taurus (see blog post picture). Mars starts every evening slightly east of directly overhead and sets at about 3:30 am all month. It has a reddish hew and makes a triangle with the two brightest stars of Gemini (see blog post picture).
The vernal equinox occurs at 5:01 am on March 20th when the Sun is directly over the Earth’s equator. This happens only two times each year midway between the solstices. The most obvious thing that we can notice about this event is the amount of daylight and night are equal. The word equinox means “equal night” in Latin. Researchers have verified that people tend to be the happiest April to June due to the combination of more and increasing sunlight each day.