As we enter March, bright planets will be low in the east and west. Venus will become fainter and give way to Mars. Rising by around midnight, it glows yellow orange by early dawn and can be spotted next to Saturn. However, you will still be able to see Venus as both the evening and morning star till March 20. Another planet that will garner attention is the biggest planet in the Solar System. Don’t get confused with Sirius the star which shines brightly but twinkles, unlike Jupiter which shines between March 28 to April 19. Look in direction of the constellation Leo and you should see it.
Date with the stars
Even though Orion the Hunter is considered a winter constellation, you can still see it in spring if you look southwest soon after dark. Look high in the north-east for seven bright stars — three forming a handle, four forming a bowl and you are looking at Big Dipper. Don’t stop yet. Just follow the curve of the handle of the Big Dipper and you will soon bump into a bright orange-ish star called Arcturus. Arc shaped, it rises in the east within an hour after sunset. For star gazers look beneath Big Dipper’s bowl to see Leo the Lion. The stars forming a backward question mark in the sky will almost resemble the lion’s mane. And the stars forming the triangle makes up the lion’s tail.
Exactly half
On March 20, experience the Vernal Equinox — meaning equal day and night. With the Sun shining directly on the equator it will start at about 15:59 IST. The March equinox marks the moment when the Sun crosses the equator from south to north. In fact, across the globe everyone will have 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night.
Look up
The crescent moon will make a neat triangle with two planets on March 29. Watch out for their formation as Mercury will appear at the bottom right of the moon while Mars will appear to the top right sometime later in the evening.
