Moon at perigee, closest to Earth, Thursday, March 30.
Planets
Venus in inferior conjunction with Sun (near side of
Sun), Saturday, March 25.
Mercury at greatest elongation east of Sun, Saturday,
April 1.
Saturn, between classical Sagittarius and Scorpius, rising shortly after local midnight,
ceases retrograde motion and begins moving east against the
stellar background, Wednesday, April 5.
Jupiter in opposition to Sun in Virgo northwest of Spica, Friday, March 7. Jupiter
then rises at sunset, sets at sunrise, and transits the meridian at midnight.
The SkyThe early evening sky belongs to Orion and his two dogs, Canis Major (to the southeast) and
Canis Minor (to the east). Below
Orion find box-like Lepus, the
Hare, and farther down the flat triangle that represents the
modern constellation of Columba, the Dove. Directly above
Orion is the pentagon that makes Auriga, the Charioteer, which features first
magnitude Capella, and to the
southwest of Capella the small triangle that makes "the Kids." A
bit to the southeast of Orion are the dim stars that represent
modern Monoceros, the Unicorn.
