Download Mountain Skies March 7 2016

PISGAH
ASTRONOMICAL
RESEARCH
INSTITUTE
Text by Dr. Bob Hayward
Astronomer/Educator
Graphics by TheSky
Bisque Software
Mountain Skies
March 7, 2016
JUPITER FINALLY GRACES THE NIGHT SKY
The planets: Finally! After months of having none of the five visible planets except the elusive
Mercury in the evening sky, Jupiter is rising right about sunset. Look for it low in the east as the sun
sets in the west. Until a waxing crescent moon enters the evening sky later this week, Jupiter is the
brightest object in the evening sky. In fact, tonight Jupiter is at opposition which means it is exactly
opposite the sun in the sky. Since that’s the case Jupiter rises as the sun sets and sets in the mornings
as the sun rises. It also means that Jupiter is at its closest to us as the earth, which is moving the
faster, passes by Jupiter on the inside track around the sun. The next few weeks are a good time to
look at the king of the planets through a telescope or even a good pair of binoculars.
As we watch Jupiter rise well up into our southern sky, we await the arrival of the red planet
Mars. The earth is rapidly approaching this fascinating planet and that, coupled with the planet’s own
motion, results in it moving rapidly out of the constellation of Libra the scales into the eastern edge of
the scorpion. It is now forming a nice triangle with the red star Antares, the heart of the scorpion, and
the planet Saturn a bit farther to the east. As we come around the sun and approach Mars, it will
brighten until it is brighter than the ringed planet. Saturn lies in the feet of Ophiuchus the doctor above
the tail of the scorpion.
That leaves Venus and Mercury so far as visible planets are concerned. Venus, the queen of
the planets is still obvious in the east before dawn. But, it is rapidly moving away from us and behind
the sun; because of this it is lower in the morning twilight each morning. March is the last month to spot
it easily on our morning commutes (not while driving, please) as by the end of the month it will be too
close to the sun for easy observation. It passes behind the sun in superior conjunction on June 6 to
emerge in our evening sky as our “Evening Star” by late that month. Mercury is with Venus low in the
twilight for another week now but will be in our evening sky very late this month. It passes through
superior conjunction on the 23rd.
The stars: The bright stars of the winter skies still dominate the evening. As mentioned last
month, the central figure, Orion the hunter, stands high in the south as the sun sets. Using the belt of
Orion as a pointer, we can draw a line to the west to locate Aldebaran, the fierce red eye of Taurus the
bull. Note a v-shaped group of stars that marks the face of the bull. This group is known as the
Hyades, a cluster of stars very important to astronomers in determining distances in the Universe.
Now,
look
a
little farther to the west
in
Taurus,
on
the
shoulder of the bull, to
locate a pretty little
cluster of stars called
the Pleiades or The
Seven Sisters. There
really appear to be
only six bright stars in
this cluster but a telescope or even a pair of binoculars reveals hundreds of fainter stars. Some people
think the Pleiades cluster is shaped like a dipper and mistake it for the Little Dipper. But the Little
Dipper is in the north, in the Little Bear, and not in Taurus. As the Earth rotates, the Hyades follow the
Pleiades across the sky. This has led to a number of legends such as one from Native Americans that
holds that the Pleiades are wives being chased by their husbands, the Hyades.
The Sun: The first day of spring is marked by the vernal or spring equinox, the moment in time
when the sun, in its apparent path around the sky, crosses the celestial equator on its way north for the
spring and summer. This year the equinox occurs at 12:30 a.m. EDT Sunday morning, March 20.
Celestial Calendar:
March 8, 8:54 p.m. EST – New Moon
March 12 – The sun moves out of Aquarius the water bearer and into Pisces the fishes
March 13, 2:00 a.m. EST – Daylight Saving Time begins. Set clocks ahead 1 hour.
March 15, 1:03 p.m. EDT – First Quarter Moon
March 20, 12:30 a.m. EDT - Vernal Equinox. Spring begins
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PARI is a public not-for-profit public foundation established in 1998. Located in the Pisgah National
Forest southwest of Asheville, NC, PARI offers educational programs at all levels, from K-12 through postgraduate research. For more information about PARI and its programs, visit www.pari.edu. Follow PARI on
Twitter at http://twitter.com/Astronomy_PARI. “Like” PARI on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/Pisgah.Astronomical.Research.Institute.
For further information or questions about this Mountain Skies column, contact Dr. Bob Hayward at
[email protected]. Graphics produced with TheSky Astronomical Software, Software Bisque.