upstate ny stargazing in march- 2 full nd mercury after

3/17/2018 Upstate NY Stargazing in March: 2 full moons, Venus and Mercury after sunset | syracuse.com

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Upstate NY Stargazing in March: 2 full

moons, Venus and Mercury after

sunset

Updated March 1, 2018 at 3:11 PM;Posted March 1, 2018 at 1:26 PM

CENTRAL NY OUTDOORS

The best‑of‑winter constellations overBaltimore Woods in Marcellus, NY. Thebright star at lower‑center is Sirius inCanis Major. To its right and up, the beltof Orion, the five‑star "V" of Taurus, andthe Pleiades star cluster near the imageedge. (Photo by Damian Allis)

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By Damian Allis [email protected],

Contributing writer

There were a few evenings this past February that wereunexpectedly comfortable for the time of year, hopefullygiving observers some unexpectedly long opportunitiesto take in some of the busiest regions of our nighttimesky.

To have the grouping of the Winter Hexagon ‑ Orion,Taurus, Auriga, Gemini, Canis Minor, and Canis Major ‑out and about at such reasonable hours means thatanyone can see not only the brightest grouping of brightstars in our yearly sky, but also some of the closestgroups of stars. The Hyades star cluster, made up of the"V" of the head of Taurus the Bull ‑ but not including thebright eye star Aldebaran ‑ is our closest star cluster at150 light years. Just to the northwest of the Hyades liesthe second‑closest bright cluster of stars to our SolarSystem ‑ Pleiades.

If you can find the Pleiades and the patch of stars underOrion's Belt, you can even scratch two of the 110 MessierObjects off of your list. The history and some key detailsof the Messier Objects were discussed in the March 2017article. In brief ‑ these are the bright galaxies, starclusters, and nebulae that can all be found with littlemore than a quality pair of binoculars, dark skies, a goodstar chart, and a big cup of coffee. The time around mid‑March and early‑April is the only time of the year when, ifyou start VERY soon after sunset, you can find all 110 of

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these objects before sunrise the next morning.Astronomy clubs the world over often plan marathons asa group ‑ these are great opportunities to learn fromseasoned amateurs as well as to see how the sameobject may look in many different binoculars andtelescopes.

The 110 Messier Objects through high‑qualityoptics.

Lectures And Observing Opportunities In

Upstate/Central New York

New York has a number of astronomers, astronomyclubs, and observatories that host public sessionsthroughout the year. Announced sessions fromrespondent NY astronomy organizations are providedbelow for March. As wind and cloud cover are always



factors when observing, please check the providedcontact information and/or email the groups a day‑or‑sobefore an announced session, as some groups will alsoschedule weather‑alternate dates. Also use the contactinfo for directions and to check on any applicable eventor parking fees. And bring one more layer of clothingthan you think you are going to need!

Astronomy Events Calendar

Organizer Location Event Date Time Contact

Info

Adirondack Public Observatory Tupper Lake 1st Friday

Observing

Mar.

2

7:30 PM email,

website

Adirondack Public Observatory Tupper Lake 3rd Friday

Observing

Mar.

16

7:30 PM email,

website

Albany Area Amateur Astronomers &

Dudley Observatory

Schenectady AAAA

Meeting

Mar.

15

7:30 9

PM

email,

website

Albany Area Amateur Astronomers &

Dudley Observatory

Schenectady Night Sky

Adventure

Mar.

20

7 8:30

PM

email,

website

Astronomy Section, Rochester

Academy of Science

Rochester Member

Meeting

Mar.

2

7:30

9:30 PM

email,

website

Baltimore Woods Marcellus Goodbye

Winter Skies

Mar.

16

6 9 PM email,

website

Kopernik Observatory & Science

Center

Vestal Friday Night

Observing

Mar.

2

7 9 PM email,

website


Center

Vestal KAS Monthly

Meeting

Mar.

7

7 9 PM email,

website


Center

Vestal Friday Night

Observing

Mar.

9

7 9 PM email,

website


Center

Vestal Friday Night

Observing

Mar.

16

7 9 PM email,

website


Center

Vestal Friday Night

Observing

Mar.

23

7 9 PM email,

website

Mohawk Valley Astronomical Society Waterville Public Star

Gazing

Mar.

10

7:30

10:30

PM

email,

website

Mohawk Valley Astronomical Society Waterville Meeting and

Lecture

Mar.

14

7:30 9

PM

email,

website

Lunar Phases

Full Moon Third Quarter New Moon First Quarter Full Moon

Mar. 1, 7:51 pm Mar. 9, 6:19 am Mar. 17, 9:11 am Mar. 24, 11:35 am Mar. 31, 8:36 am



The lack of a Full Moon in February means adouble Full Moon in March this year, spacedon the 1st and 31st. Those keeping track willnote that the Full Moon on the 31st is thesecond Blue Moon of 2018. The VernalEquinox, or beginning of Spring, on the 20this paired with a thin crescent Moon in thewestern sky.

Lunar features prominent in low‑power binoculars.

The lack of a Full Moon in February means a double FullMoon in March this year, spaced on the 1st and 31st.Those keeping track will note that the Full Moon on the31st is the second Blue Moon of 2018. The VernalEquinox, or beginning of Spring, on the 20th is pairedwith a thin crescent Moon in the western sky.

Observing Guides

Items and events listed below assume you're outside andobserving most anywhere in New York. The longer you'reoutside and away from indoor or bright lights, the better



your dark adaption will be. If you have to use yoursmartphone, find a red light app or piece of red acetate,else set your brightness as low as possible.

The sky at 9 p.m. on Mar. 15, accurate allmonth except for the changing Moonposition.

Evening Skies: The Winter Triangle ‑ Sirius in CanisMajor, Procyon in Canis Minor, and Betelgeuse in Orion ‑shares an edge with the much larger Winter Hexagon ‑Sirius, Procyon, Pollux in Gemini, Capella in Auriga,Aldebaran in Taurus, and Rigel in Orion. As these twowork their way to the west earlier each night this month,binocular observers can spare themselves some neck



strain while looking at the Pleiades star cluster in Taurusand the cloudy Orion Nebula below Orion's belt. Both areexcellent targets at low‑ and high‑power magnification.

With Orion and its cohort all above the horizon beforemidnight, learning eight constellations at once is as easyas following some lines within Orion's bowtie asterism.

Orion can guide you around itsneighborhood. Red = beltstars to Sirius and CanisMajor; Orange = Rigel and beltcenter to Castor and Pollux inGemini; Yellow = Bellatrix andBetelgeuse to Canis Major;Green = Belt stars toAldebaran and Taurus; Blue =Saiph and Orion's head toCapella in Auriga.Click for alarger view.



Morning Skies: The Summer Triangle has fully clearedthe horizon for early risers, giving observers a chance toperfect their late‑evening summertime observing of themany binocular and telescope objects within the band ofour Milky Way. Off the corner star Vega, the keystone ofHercules may stand out to you ‑ a pair of binoculars willreveal the great globular cluster Messier Object 13 off thesouthwest corner star. More information about Herculescan be found in the Oct. 2016 article. The rest of themorning highlights belong to the planets Saturn, Mars,and Jupiter to the south.

Moving from the Little Dipper to the Big Dipper, continuenearly the same distance to reach the hind end of Leo theLion ‑ look to the west for the backwards question markthat is its mane. Following the handle of the Big Dipper,one can simply "arc" their way to the first bright star inthat path ‑ the star Arcturus in Bootes.



The sky at 5 a.m. on Mar. 15, accurate allmonth except for the changing Moonposition.

Planetary Viewing



The changing positions of Venus andMercury in the western sky after sunset atmid‑month, including the alignment ofVenus and Mercury with the Moon on March18.

Mercury and Venus: This is a fantastic month for thosewho favor the inner planets. Venus is unmissable alongthe western horizon after sunset right now and willappear higher in the sky each night this month. If youtrain your binoculars on Venus over the next few daysafter sunset and place it in the upper left‑hand corner,you can already sneak a view of Mercury, which willappear as a much dimmer pinpoint of light. Mercury riseshigher this month, reaching its observing peak on Mar.17/18 before its orbit makes it set earlier each night out



into April. The best night for binocular observers will beMar. 18th, when Mercury and Venus line up almostperfectly with a sliver‑of‑a‑crescent moon.

The path of the Moon in the morning skyfrom Mar. 7 to 11, showing its morningpairings with Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn.

Mars, Jupiter and Saturn: Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter allclear the eastern horizon well before sunrise this month,with Jupiter taking a healthy lead within the constellationLibra. Mars spends the first third of the month inOphiuchus before settling into Sagittarius with Saturn.The Moon makes for several nice pairings with all threeplanets during the first full week of March on its way toNew Moon.

Mars flies across our edge‑on view of the center of theMilky Way this month. If you scan anywhere near Marswith binoculars, you may see some occasional fuzzypatches that do not come into focus like the pinpoint



stars also within your field of view ‑ these nebulae areamong the list of Messier Objects for your finding andobserving pleasure. On the 19th, Mars will be surroundedby Messier 8 below and M20 and M21 above ‑ all well inthe field of view of binoculars.

Those with even poor‑quality binoculars are able to seethe four bright satellites of Jupiter ‑ known as the"Galilean Moons" for their first observer ‑ and theappearance of Jupiter as a disc of light instead of asimple pinpoint like all stars. Many websites, includingthe Jupiter's Moons webapp at Sky & Telescope, canprovide you with the real‑time and future positions of thefast‑moving moons for any viewing opportunity you getthis and every month.

When the weather doesn't cooperate, the NASA Junomission (tw,fb) continues to impress with hard scienceand beautiful images.

ISS And Tiangong‑1 Flyovers

Satellite flyovers are commonplace, with several brightpasses easily visible per hour in the nighttime sky, yet athrill to new observers of all ages. Few flyovers comparein brightness or interest to the International SpaceStation. The flyovers of the football field‑sized craft with



its massive solar panel arrays and three currentoccupants can be predicted to within several secondsand take several minutes to complete.

The ISS is a morning target this month until the 23rd,when it returns to the early‑evening skies into early April.Observers are treated to pairs of flyovers several times inthe next few weeks, provided you wake up early enoughto catch the first of the two.

ISS Flyovers

Date Brightness Approx. Start Start Direct. Approx. End End Direct.

3/1 extremely 5:34 AM SW 5:40 AM E/NE

3/2 extremely 4:44 AM SE 4:48 AM E/NE

3/3 somewhat 3:54 AM E 3:55 AM E

3/3 extremely 5:27 AM W 5:32 AM NE

3/4 extremely 4:37 AM NE 4:39 AM NE

3/5 somewhat 3:47 AM E/NE 3:47 AM E/NE

3/5 very 5:19 AM NW 5:23 AM NE

3/6 very 4:29 AM N/NE 4:31 AM NE

3/7 somewhat 3:39 AM NE 3:39 AM NE

3/7 very 5:11 AM NW 5:15 AM NE

3/8 moderately 4:21 AM N/NE 4:23 AM NE

3/8 moderately 5:55 AM NW 6:00 AM NE

3/9 moderately 5:03 AM N/NW 5:07 AM NE

3/10 moderately 4:13 AM N/NE 4:14 AM NE

3/10 moderately 5:47 AM NW 5:52 AM E/NE

As mentioned in last month's article, the unmannedChinese Tiangong‑1 space station is about to fall back toEarth. The previous estimates of a fiery re‑entry aroundmid‑March have been updated to somewhere in the late‑



March‑to‑mid‑April range. We hopefully won't have *too*good a view of its re‑entry, but can still catch it in itsorbits right now thanks to up‑to‑date trackingpredictions.

Tiangong‑1 FlyoversDate Brightness Approx. Start Start Direct. Approx. End End Direct.

3/2 very dim 6:48 PM S/SW 6:51 PM SE

3/3 dim 6:39 PM SW 6:42 PM E/SE

3/4 dim 6:30 PM SW 6:34 PM E

3/7 dim 7:33 PM W 7:35 PM W

3/8 somewhat 7:23 PM W 7:25 PM S/SW

3/9 somewhat 7:12 PM W 7:15 PM S/SE

3/10 dim 7:01 PM W 7:04 PM SE

3/11 dim 7:49 PM W 7:53 PM SE

Predictions courtesy of heavens‑above.com. Times laterin the month are subject to shifts ‑ for accurate dailypredictions, visit spotthestation.nasa.gov.

No Major Meteor Showers This Month

As has been discussed in previous articles, meteorshowers are the result of the Earth passing through thedebris field of a comet or asteroid. While the orbits ofscores of these objects bring them close to Earth's orbit,a limited number produce enough debris to producesignificant meteor shower activity. February and Marchmark yearly lulls in major meteor shower activity, withthe next prominent shower being the Lryids that occur inApril.

The astronomy community recognizes many minorshowers that are predictable in their timing and arepredictably unimpressive. Those interested in seeing a



full list should check out the American Meteor Societymeteor shower calendar.

Learn A Constellation: Taurus (Again)

Taurus in the western sky after sunset thismonth.

In last month's article, we considered the most "logical"reason for there being 12 zodiacal constellations, amathematical basis that originates with the Babylonians.It is likely that their system of mathematics was itselfinspired entirely by their astronomical observations andneed to establish a more definitive way to mark the



changing months. Once a civilization grows so large as torely on mass‑organized agriculture to keep itself fed,knowing how to follow the changing seasons and plan thenext harvest becomes a very important driver in gettingorganized!

The year is almost exactly 365 days long, a number thatlies quite close to 360. 360 is, of course, the product of12 and 30, with 12 having been described last month asan excellent measuring stick for its ability to be dividedinto smaller pieces with the numbers 2, 3, 4, and 6. Thelunar cycle of a little under 30 days occurs 12 times in asolar year with just under 12 full days to spare. It is hardto imagine these prominent occurrences of the number12 and 30 in the celestial mechanics of the day nothaving a great influence on the scientists of the day ‑ justas its hard to imagine that some were not completelyvexed by the fact that nothing in the skies aboveoccurred exactly in whole numbers. The artificial additionof some whole‑number quantity into the night sky in theform of 12 zodiacal constellations to follow the Sun,Moon, and five wandering stars that we know today asthe planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturnmust have come as a great relief to the scribes of the dayupon their introduction.

The next constellation in our evening walk around thezodiac is Taurus the Bull, already described in detail inthe December 2016 article. There's strong evidence that



the first representation of this constellation as a large‑horned bull goes back around 17,500 years, asrepresented in a cave painting found in Lascaux, France.That this representation may predate our more commonEgyptian/Greek/Roman origins for the most prominentgroupings of stars in the sky by many millennia is one ofthe great joys of astronomy. Thanks to the very slowchanging positions of the stars in our celestialneighborhood, every one of your ancestors with decentvision and the curiosity to look up in wonder has seenthese same basic groupings over that past several tens ofthousands of years.

The Crab Nebula at various wavelengths,



each showing tremendous detail andinformation about what lies within.

Just off one of the horn stars is the supernova remnantknown as the Crab Nebula ‑ designated Messier 1 (M1).This Messier is of all kinds of historical significance.When the associated star ended in an explosive display inMay of 1054 A.D., Chinese and Middle Easternastronomers recorded it as a daytime‑observable object.Almost 700 years later, astronomer John Bevis observedthe nebulous remains of this supernova explosion. Thename "Crab Nebula" comes from William Parsons in his1840 observations, where its shape and defining featureslooked to him like a crab.

Dr. Damian Allis is the director of CNY Observers and aNASA Solar System Ambassador. If you know of anyother NY astronomy events or clubs to promote, pleasecontact the author.

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