March’s new moon rises today, making it a wonderful dark night to observe the winter constellations before they leave the night sky.
The new moon will occur on March 10 at 5:00 a.m. EDT (09:00 UTC). US Naval Observatory. two days after the waning moon’s conjunction to Mars and Venus and three days before its conjunction to Jupiter.
The new moon is so called because it is at the beginning of a month (lunar cycle). At this point, the Moon is directly between the Earth and the Sun, and this happens approximately every 29.5 days. The two objects share the same celestial longitude; it is a projection of the Earth’s own lines of longitude onto the celestial sphere. This alignment is also called conjunction; if the moon passes in front of the sun we’ll see a solar eclipse, but that won’t happen this time (the next eclipse will be on April 8 and will be visible from most of the United States).
The timing of the moon phases depends on the position of the moon, so the time difference between places on Earth is due to a person’s time zone.
Relating to: Full moon calendar 2024: When will the next full moon be seen?
TOP TELESCOPE SELECTION:
Are you looking for a telescope to see the features of the full moon up close? We recommend the Celestron Astro Fi 102 as our top pick in our guide to the best telescopes for beginners. Don’t forget the moon filter!
New moons provide wonderful sky-viewing nights. If you want to take a closer look at the dark night sky, our guides to the best telescopes and best binoculars are a great place to start.
Whether you’re looking to image the moon or explore the night sky in general, check out our guide on how to photograph the night sky or how to photograph planets, as well as our recommendations for the best cameras and best lenses for astrophotography. Astrophotography.
New moons are often used in lunar calendars; but since they are not historically visible, their timing must be estimated. However, it is possible to catch the moon a day or two before or after the new phase; The moon appears as a very thin crescent. In fact, ancient astronomers used it to determine the first days of the month, and Islamic scholars still use it in countries where Islam is an important part of civil life; The traditional Jewish calendar, like the Chinese lunar calendar, calculates the months after the new moon.
An interesting exercise is to see if you can catch the moon just after the new moon; Looking at the sky just after sunset on March 10 or March 11; The crescent is thin but sometimes just visible. (Be careful when observing anything close to the sun; using any optical aid is risky because it can accidentally damage the eyes and even cause permanent blindness).
When the moon is a thin crescent, the dark part can be seen to be slightly illuminated. This is called “earthlight” and is the reflection of light from the Earth onto the lunar surface; If one were standing on the moon, one would see an almost “full” Earth shining brightly on the night side of the moon.
On the day of the new moon, Mars and Venus will still be visible to mid-northern latitude observers, although they are near the horizon in the dawn sky; They’re rising in New York 6:07 am And 6:27 am with the sunrise respectively 7:15 am
Both will be difficult to spot, because at 7:00 a.m. the brighter of the two, Venus, will be only 5 degrees as high. Mars will be above and to the right; Because it won’t be much higher than Venus and will be fainter, it will disappear more quickly in daylight. Moving south will make both planets more visible; As with conjunctions, moving closer to the equator or being in the Southern Hemisphere means the planets will rise earlier than sunrise and rise before dawn.
On March 10, Venus and Mars, as well as Jupiter, will be prominent just after sunset; It will be 36 degrees above the western horizon by 8 p.m. in New York and will stand out as one of the brighter objects on that side of the sky. Jupiter, a planet, can be distinguished from stars because its light is more constant; While stars tend to shine because they are point sources of light, this is not the case for planets because they have (very small) disks. Mercury will be an “evening star”, but it sets so close to sunset that it is lost in the sun’s glare for mid-northern latitude observers; Saturn is also too close to the Sun to be seen. Both will appear in the weeks after March 10.
constellations
Observers at mid-northern latitudes will see the winter sky constellations set earlier than they do in January and February. At 8pm Eastern (about an hour after sunset) Orion, Taurus, Gemini and Canis Major are well above the southern horizon, meaning they begin to set in the early morning hours; Orion was the first person to go below the horizon until 02:00 at night.
In the east the lion Leo will rise; At 20:00 in the evening it is completely above the horizon. Looking to Leo’s left one encounters the Big Dipper; it will be vertical with the “bowl” at the top. Using the two stars at the top of the bowl (called Dubhe and Merak, also called “pointers”), you can find the Pole Star Polaris, and directly opposite the Big Dipper is the W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia. The legendary queen of Ethiopia who angered Poseidon and was forced to sacrifice her daughter Andromeda. Andromeda is to Cassiopeia’s left, and above Andromeda is Perseus, the hero who saved her.
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Meanwhile, it is the end of summer in the Southern Hemisphere. You can see Leo rising when you look northeast at 8pm at the latitude of Buenos Aires, but Leo will be upside down. Turning right (south) will reveal the fainter constellation Crater (Cup) at the top of Hydra; the second is a long star serpent that extends from the horizon to a point above Leo, where a small pentagonal shape of five stars marks the head. Continuing southeast, the bright cluster of four stars, Crux, or Southern Cross, is seen; The long axis of the Cross is oriented north-south, or nearly horizontal at that time of night.
Below the cross are Centaur’s two brightest stars, Hadar and Rigil Kentaurus. Carina’s brightest star, Canopus, the keel of the Argo ship, will be almost directly overhead; Carina was once part of a single, very large constellation, but more modern astronomers have divided it into three: Carina, Puppis (Stern Deck), and Vela (Sails). Facing south, Canopus will be about 71 degrees above the horizon, with Vela to the left and Puppis above Carina.