Highlights (especially for the planets) for the night sky in March 2004

Monday 1 March 2004

• 1.5 hours after sunset look for waxing Moon near Saturn

Saturday 6 March 2004

• Look for Full Moon near Jupiter

Tuesday 9 March 2004

• 1 hour before sunrise look for Moon near Spica (of Virgo) in SW

Friday 12 March 2004

• 1 hour before sunrise look for waning gibbous Moon near Antares

Sunday 14 March 2004

• 30 minutes after sunset look for Mercury in the West
• this begins a time when you can see all 5 visible planets in the night sky, culminating with March 27th when all five visible planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter) will be visible in the sky at once with minimal angular separation

Thursday 18 March 2004

• 30 minutes before sunrise look for waning Moon in ESE

Saturday 20 March 2004

• New Moon
• Mars positioned near the Pleiades
• SPRING begins - Vernal Equinox

Wednesday 24 March 2004

• 1 hour after sunset look for waxing crescent Moon near Venus

Thursday 25 March 2004

• 1 hour after sunset look for waxing crescent Moon near Mars
• Mars is between Venus and Aldeberan (in Taurus)

Saturday 27 March 2004

• Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter span 135 degrees in the sky

Tuesday 30 March 2004

• 1 hour after sunset look for Venus and Mars just 10 degrees apart
• Pleiades (M45) between Venus and Mars

Good skywatching resources

• Abrams Planetarium Skywatcher's Diary (source of the daily events)
• SkyMap software (used to make the maps)
• The Nearest Stars
• The Brightest Stars
• Skymaps dot com (free monthly star maps)
• Planetarium Software
• About the GMU observatory

John Avellone's provided web sites

• FCPS/NOVAC EarthDial Web Cam at TJHSST Planetarium
• EarthDial Project Beta test webpage