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Home , Carina (constellation), Celestial pole, Gacrux, Leo Minor, Night sky, Sirius

MARCH POUTŪ-TE-RANGI HIGHLIGHTS Conjunction of and the A conjunction is when two astronomical objects appear close in the as seen THE- SKY TONIGHT- - from . The , along with the TE AHUA O TE RAKI I TENEI PO and the Moon, appear to travel across Brightest our sky roughly following a path called the At this time of the , we can see the . Each body travels at its own speed, three brightest stars in the sky. sometimes entering ‘retrograde’ where they The brightness of a , as seen from seem to move backwards for a period of time Earth, is measured as its apparent (though the backwards motion is only from . Pictured on the cover is our vantage point, and in fact the planets , the brightest star in our , are still orbiting the Sun normally). which is 8.6 light- away. Sometimes these celestial bodies will cross With an of −1.46, paths along the ecliptic line and occupy the this star can be found in the same space in our sky, though they are still , high in the northern sky. millions of kilometres away from each other. Sirius is actually a binary , consisting of Sirius A which is twice the On March 19, the Moon and Saturn will be size of the Sun, and a faint dwarf in conjunction. While the unaided eye will companion named Sirius B. only see Saturn as a bright star-like object (Saturn is the eighth brightest object in our Sirius is almost twice as bright as the night sky), a telescope can offer a spectacular second brightest star in the night sky, view of the ringed close to our Moon. , from the constellation . The Moon will be at a 21% illuminated Visible all year round, Canopus can be waning crescent and found high in the southern sky this month, Saturn will be visible with an apparent magnitude of −0.74. to its east.

Despite appearing dimmer than Sirius, This conjunction will Canopus has around eight times the mass be best viewed from of the Sun, with its light taking almost 2am, when the Moon 310 years to reach our planet. and Saturn rise, until . Image © Ian Griffin The third brightest star, , is also the closest star system to our at 4.37 light-years away. Also MARCH POUTū-TE-RANGI SKY GUIDE known as Rigil Kentaurus, this star Remember a moment in time with a personalised has an apparent magnitude of −0.27, from Otago Museum! and can be seen at all times of the year Each chart shows the position of stars, , in the constellation , currently planets, and the Sun, and the phase of the Moon for the just above the southern . exact time, date, and location of your special event. PERPETUAL Save 10% on your chart by enjoying a show in the Perpetual Guardian while you wait! GUARDIAN PLANETARIUM Place your order at the Museum Shop. MARCH POUTŪ-TE-RANGI 2020 Cassiopeia - MOON MARAMA PHASES Interactive sky chart (now with PDF print option) SUN RA RISE /

Ursa Major N 10 Capella350 340 20 Phase Date Date Rise Set 330 30 First Quarter Tuesday, 3 March Castor Sunday, 1 March 7.13am 8.25pm

Pollux 320 Full Moon Tuesday, 10 March 40 Sunday, 15 March 7.33am 7.59pm Minor Monday, 16 March Tuesday,Andromeda 31 March 7.54am 7.28pm Third Quarter AldebaranTaurus 310 50 Tuesday, 24 March New Moon 300 60 MOON AT APOGEE - Leo

PLANETS WHETU AO 290

70 Sirius Mira Because the Moon doesn’t Canis Major our planet in a perfect 280

80 circle, its distance from Earth Venus varies throughout its monthly Meremere-tū-ahiahi journey. Each month, the Moon W

E moves between being at its 1 March until 9.50pm farthest position from Earth, until 9.24pm CanopusPictor 15 March which we call apogee, to its

31 March until 8.56pm 260

Vela closest position to Earth, called 100 Horologium In Aries Carina perigee, only two weeks later.

Corvus 250 This year, the Moon’s apogee

110 will take place on 24 March.

Spica On this day, the Moon will be Matawhero 240

Centaurus GacruxAcrux 406 692 kilometres away from 120 after 1.51am us, compared to its average 1 March

after 1.42am distance of approximately 15 March 230

after 1.35am 130 384 400 kilometres. 31 March Rigil Kentaurus

In Sagittarius

220 140 In this particular instance, Time Guide the Moon at apogee will

Lupus

Norma 210 Sirius This chart is oriented for: 150 coincide with a new moon,

Early March, 11pm Canopus

Jupiter 200 160 an event which is known as

Mid March, 10pm 190

Hine-i-tīweka 170 S Alpha Centauri a micromoon. To us here on Late March, 9pm Saturn Earth, a micromoon appears 1 March until 2.44am Copyright © 2020 Heavens-Above.com until 2.01am about 14% smaller than a 15 March Location: Dunedin, 45.8788°S, 170.5028°E Sagittarius Mars until 1.10am supermoon, which occurs 31 March Time: 15 March 2020 20:00 (UTC +13:00) How to use this chart: Hold the chart up to the sky and rotate it, so the direction you are looking matches the when a full moon happens In Sagittarius direction printed on the bottom. For example, if you are looking south, place ‘S’ at the lower edge. Stars rise in at perigee. the east and set in the west like the Sun. As the Earth turns, the sky appears to rotate clockwise around the south . The sky makes a small shift to the west every night, as theScutum Earth rotates around the Sun.

Hercules

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