Observing the sky in March presents a trade-off: it coincides with the beginning of Ramadan this year, and as the month progresses, sunset gradually becomes later and the weather becomes less cold. However, the winter constellations can still be seen in the evening sky, although they have begun to shift westward.
According to the Jeddah Astronomical Society on their Facebook account, Venus appears in the western horizon immediately after sunset and is easy to spot—it’s so bright you might mistake it for an airplane at first. Venus’s intense brightness is due to its proximity to Earth, but more importantly, its dense and cloudy atmosphere strongly reflects sunlight.
However, because of this brightness, Venus is not ideal for telescope observation, although it can be seen as a small crescent this month. This is because its orbit around the sun is inside Earth’s orbit, meaning it goes through phases similar to the moon.
Ramadan Crescent
One of the most beautiful celestial events is the appearance of the Ramadan crescent near Venus on March 1st. The new crescent will appear below and to the left of bright Venus in the western horizon immediately after sunset. Below Venus and the moon, you can look for Mercury, which will appear as a bright speck below the lunar crescent.
Mercury Observation
During the first half of March, Mercury and Venus will remain close to each other after sunset, but as the month progresses, they will begin to approach the western horizon more and more. By late March, Venus and Mercury will move to the eastern horizon in the early morning sky, but they will disappear in the sun’s glare. The best night to observe Mercury is the evening of March 8th.
Total Lunar Eclipse in Ramadan
The first major astronomical event in March, in the middle of Ramadan, is a total lunar eclipse visible in most of the western hemisphere on the night of March 13-14, when the moon passes through Earth’s shadow. This is the first of two eclipses that will occur this year and is not visible in Saudi Arabia but will be seen in its partial form in the Maghreb countries.
The society noted that the Gemini constellation and the rest of the magnificent winter constellations in the northern hemisphere still adorn the southern horizon at the beginning of the night. This will be the last month you can enjoy this stellar group, as the Earth’s movement in its orbit around the sun will gradually cause the night side of Earth to move away from this part of space.
This year, the winter constellations are accompanied by Jupiter and Mars. Jupiter is the brighter of the two and is also the brightest celestial body among the winter constellations.
Jupiter is located above the Gemini stars in the northern hemisphere. Using a small telescope, you can see four of Jupiter’s largest moons, which change positions on either side of the planet from night to night as they orbit the giant of our solar system.
Mars is located above and to the left of the Gemini stars, between the brightest stars of the Gemini constellation. Through a medium-sized telescope, you can see its surface features, including its north pole, if the sky is dark and clear enough. On March 8th, the first quarter moon will be close to Mars, less than two degrees away.
The three bright stars that form the Orion’s Belt are clearly visible, and no other group of stars has this brightness and perfect straight line. Below the belt are three faint stars that form the Orion’s Sword. The middle star is the Orion Nebula, which appears as a hazy star to the naked eye and is a spectacular sight through small telescopes, where you can see a giant cloud of hydrogen gas where stars are forming.
The society said that the Taurus constellation is considered one of the winter constellations in the northern hemisphere. Although it may be one of the smaller winter constellations, it contains the Pleiades star cluster, which resembles the stars of the Little Dipper.
The Pleiades cluster is located more than 400 light-years from Earth and is more than 40 light-years in diameter. Using a small telescope or binoculars, you can see dozens of stars that were born together in a giant hydrogen cloud more than 100 million years ago.
