Whitby & District Astronomical Society

Venus continues to dominate the evening sky – an unmistakeable beacon over in the SW.  The crescent moon lies close to Venus on the first day of the month making for a pleasing visual treat, especially as Mars is also in the vicinity, indeed Venus and Mars are closest in the sky the following evening.  Mars resembles an ochre star upper left of Venus.

As Venus descends, so Mercury climbs into the sky from mid month onwards, it’s best evening apparition of the year.  Look for the elusive inner most planet at the back end of March from the 26^th and into April.  By then Venus will have all but departed, so the moon must serve as a guide to Mercury’s whereabouts.  A thin crescent moon lies due west on the 29 and 30^th, you will need to search in the evening twilight around 45 minutes after sunset.  Locate the crescent and look a few degrees to the right at a similar height.  If you spot what resembles a bright star you have tracked down Mercury.  Use binoculars if you cannot initially spot it with the naked eye.

Mars also resides low in the WSW upper left of Venus and Mercury.  The red planet is readily visible to the naked eye and resembles an ‘ochre’ hued star.  Telescopically Mars is well past its best for this apparition.  View on the 1^st when a crescent moon lies below and again on the 30^th when Mars, Moon and Mercury form a triangle.

As Mars and Mercury set around 9pm, so Jupiter emerges into the spring sky across in the east.  Look for a very conspicuous beacon low in the SE.  Currently Jupiter resides in the spring constellation of Virgo, above its chief star Spica.  This means as night’s grow lighter, telescopic observations will be limited to the late evenings or even early mornings when Jupiter is higher to the south.  Fortunately Jupiter always has something to offer, even for smaller apertures.  Look for the banding on the disk and the attendant Galilean moons.  On the 15^th a waning crescent moon resides upper left of Jupiter.

Finally, Saturn rises in early morning hours and is best viewed telescopically around 4-5am low to the south.  Saturn resides to the left of bright Antares, chief star of Scorpius.  Look on the 20^th when a waning crescent moon lies upper right of Saturn.

Click each image to see a full-size Sky Chart: