MARCH 2025 (Northern Hemisphere)

1 – Moon near Mercury at 5h UT (16° from Sun, evening sky). Mag. –1.0.

1 – Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) at 21:20 UT (distance 361,964km; angular size 33.0′).

2 – Moon near Venus at 5h UT (evening sky). Mag. –4.6.

5 – Moon near the Pleiades at 14h UT (evening sky).

6 – Moon near Jupiter at 11h UT (evening sky). Mag. –2.3.

6 – First Quarter Moon at 16:32 UT.

8 – Mercury at easternmost elongation at 6h UT (18° from Sun, evening sky). Mag. –0.3.

9 – Moon near Mars at 2h UT (evening sky). Mag. –0.1.

12 – Moon near Regulus at 9h UT (evening sky).

14 – Total Lunar Eclipse begins at 6:26 UT and ends at 7:31 UT. Greatest eclipse at 6:59 UT. Partial phases begin at 3:57 UT and end at 10:00 UT. During totality the Moon will appear red-orange in color once it passes into the Earth’s shadow, the color of all the sunsets and sunrises in Earth’s atmosphere. The total eclipse will be visible from the Pacific, Americas, west Europe and west Africa.

14 – Full Moon at 6:55 UT.

16 – Moon near Spica at 20h UT (morning sky).

17 – Moon at apogee (farthest from Earth) at 17h UT (distance 405,754km; angular size 29.4′).

20 – Vernal equinox at 8:59 UT. The time when the Sun reaches the point along the ecliptic where it crosses into the northern celestial hemisphere marking the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.

20 – Moon near Antares at 17h UT (morning sky).

22 – Last Quarter Moon at 11:31 UT.

29 – New Moon at 10:59 UT. Start of lunation 1265.

29 – Partial Solar Eclipse at 10:47 UT (greatest). Visible from Europe, NW Africa and northern Russia. Begins 8:51 UT. Ends 12:44 UT.

30 – Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) at 5:21 UT (distance 358,128km; angular size 33.4′). The second time the Moon is at perigee this month.

More sky events and links at http://Skymaps.com/skycalendar/

All times in Universal Time (UT). (USA Eastern Standard Time = UT – 5 hours.)

More sky events and links at http://Skymaps.com/skycalendar/

Visit my YouTube Page for captures of many of the Night Sky events for each month.

MOON PHASES

New Moon: 29th
First Quarter: 6th
Full Moon: 14th
Last Quarter: 22nd

EASILY SEEN BY THE NAKED EYE

Capella Aur The 6th brightest star. Appears yellowish in color. Spectroscopic binary. Dist=42 ly.
Arcturus Boo Orange, giant K star. Name means “bear watcher”. Dist=36.7 ly.
Sirius CMa The brightest star in the sky. Also known as the “Dog Star”. Dist=8.6 ly.
Procyon CMi Greek name meaning “before the dog” – rises before Sirius (northern latitudes). Dist=11.4 ly.
δ Cephei Cep Cepheid prototype. Mag varies between 3.5 & 4.4 over 5.366 days. Mag 6 companion.
Castor Gem Multiple star system with 6 components. 3 stars visible in telescope. Dist=52 ly.
Pollux Gem With Castor, the twin sons of Leda in classical mythology. Dist=34 ly.
Regulus Leo Brightest star in Leo. A blue-white star with at least 1 companion. Dist=77 ly.
Rigel Ori The brightest star in Orion. Blue supergiant star with mag 7 companion. Dist=770 ly.
Betelgeuse Ori One of the largest red supergiant stars known. Diameter=300 times that of Sun. Dist=430 ly.
Algol Per Famous eclipsing binary star. Magnitude varies between 2.1 & 3.4 over 2.867 days.
Pleiades Tau The Seven Sisters. Spectacular cluster. Many more stars visible in binoculars. Dist=399 ly.
Hyades Tau Large V-shaped star cluster. Binoculars reveal many more stars. Dist=152 ly.
Aldebaran Tau Brightest star in Taurus. It is not associated with the Hyades star cluster. Dist=66.7 ly.
Polaris UMi The North Pole Star. A telescope reveals an unrelated mag 8 companion star. Dist=433 ly.

SEEN BY TELESCOPE

γ Andromedae And Attractive double star. Bright orange star with mag 5 blue companion. Sep=9.8″.

ε Boötis Boo Red giant star (mag 2.5) with a blue-green mag 4.9 companion. Sep=2.8″. Difficult to split.

M67 Cnc Contains 500+ stars mag 10 & fainter. One of the oldest clusters. Dist=2,350 ly.

M94 CVn Compact nearly face-on spiral galaxy. Dist=15 million ly.

M51 CVn Whirlpool Galaxy. First recognised to have spiral structure. Dist=25 million ly.

η Cassiopeiae Cas Yellow star mag 3.4 & orange star mag 7.5. Dist=19 ly. Orbit=480 years. Sep=12″.

M64 Com Black-Eye Galaxy. Discovered by J.E. Bode in 1775 – “a small, nebulous star”.

3242 Hya Ghost of Jupiter. Bright blue disk. Mag 11 central star. Dist=2,600 ly.

γ Leonis Leo Superb pair of golden-yellow giant stars. Mags 2.2 & 3.5. Orbit=600 years. Sep=4.4″.

β Monocerotis Mon Triple star. Mags 4.6, 5.0 & 5.4. Requires telescope to view arc-shape. Sep=7.3″.

2264 Mon Christmas Tree Cluster. Associated with the Cone Nebula. Dist=2,450 ly.

σ Orionis Ori Superb multiple star. 2 mag 7 stars one side, mag 9 star on other. Struve 761 triple in field.

k Puppis Pup Telescope easily shows two blue-white stars of almost equal brightness. Sep=9.9″.

M1 Tau Crab Nebula. Remnant from supernova which was visible in 1054. Dist=6,500 ly.

M81 UMa Beautiful spiral galaxy visible with binoculars. Easy to see in a telescope.

M82 UMa Close to M81 but much fainter and smaller.

γ Virginis Vir Superb pair of mag 3.5 yellow-white stars. Orbit=169 years. At their closest in 2005.

M87 Vir Supergiant galaxy with supermassive black hole at its core. Dist=53.5 million ly.