Today in Astronomy History

March 12, 1835
Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician, Simon Newcomb, is born. Newcomb prepared ephemeredes (tables of computed places of celestial bodies over a period of time) and tables of astronomical constants.

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March 2010

Spring begins on March 20^th when the Spring Equinox occurs. The Spring Equinox occurs when the tilt of the Earth is in tangent with the orbit of Earth around the Sun. This point marks the beginning of Spring. An Equinox has an equal amount of daylight and nighttime.

The New Moon for March occurs on Monday, March 15^th; this will make the weekend of March 13-14 as the best weekend for dark sky observing.

The Full Moon for March occurs on March 29^th and is known as the “Full Pink Moon” or the “Pascal Moon.”

Moon and Pleiades
On March 20^th, on the Spring Equinox, the waxing crescent Moon is passing through the asterism Pleiades (M45).

Moon Beehive Cluster M44
On March 25^th, the waxing, gibbous Moon passes within 3°30’ of the
Beehive Cluster (M44).

Moon and Spica
March 30^th finds the waning, gibbous Moon passing within 3°
of the star Spica.

Mercury is observable in the evening hours, after March 26^th as it emerges from the glare of the sunset.

Mercury and Venus
On March 31^st, Mercury and Venus will be about 3°25’ of each other.

Unseen due to the position relative to the Sun, Mercury begins the month in the constellation Aquarius (The Water bearer) and on March 14^th, passes into the constellation Pisces (The Fish). On March 20^th, Mercury brief crosses into the constellation Cetus (The Sea Monster), and 13.5 hours later, returns to constellation Pisces where it finishes out the month.

Venus is observable all month in the evening hours of March. Venus begins this month in the constellation Aquarius (The Water Bearer) and on March 3^rd crosses into the constellation Pisces (The Fish). Starting March 12 Venus starts to cross the corner of the constellation Cetus (The Sea Monster) and returns to Pisces 50 hours later on March 14^th. Finally, Venus moves into the constellation Aries (The Ram) on March 30^th.

Venus and Uranus
On March 3^rd, Venus passes less than 1° of Uranus.

Moon and Venus
On March 16^th, Venus sets within 6°20’ of the waxing, crescent moon.

Mars is located in the constellation Cancer (The Crab) all month and is visible from evening to early morning hour throughout March. Mars is in excellent position for observation due to it reaching Opposition on January 29^th. Mars sets around 4:40 am (PST) at the start of the month and by the end of the month is setting around 3:40 am (PDT)

Moon and Mars
On March 25, Mars sets less than 5°20’ of the waxing, gibbous moon.

Jupiter is located in the constellation Aquarius (The Water Bearer) all month. However Jupiter is not observable until around March 20^th when it emerges from the glare of the morning Sunrise; rising around 5:00am (PST).

This month Saturn will be in the absolute best position for observation as it reaches opposition on March 21, 2010. Saturn is opposite to the sun relative to our position on Earth, so, Saturn will be up all night, rising as the Sun sets and setting when the Sun Rises.

Saturn is located in the constellation Virgo (The Maiden) until December, 2012.

Saturn and Moon
On March 1^st, Saturn rises 7°35’ of the waning, gibbous Moon.

On March 29^th, Saturn rises within 8°15’ of the waxing, gibbous Moon.

The Planet Uranus is located in the constellation Pisces (The Fish) until May of 2011. Due to its position relative to the Sun, Uranus will on be observable this month.

Neptune can be observed this month just before sunrise. It rises around 5:50 am (PST) at the start of the month and by the end of March, is rising around 4:55 am (PDT). On March 23^rd, Neptune crosses from the constellation Capricornus (The Sea Goat) to the constellation Aquarius (The Water Bearer) where it will remain until August.

On March 13th, Neptune rises within 3° of the waning, crescent moon.

Pluto is observable during most of the morning hours of March. Pluto rises around 2:30 am (PST) at the start of March and around 1:30 am (PDT) , by the end of March. The planet Pluto is located in the constellation Sagittarius (The Archer) until the year 2023.