Moon Phase:
New Moon 3rd
First Quarter 10th
Full Moon 18th
Last Quarter 25th
Autumn Equinox: 21st
Planets:
Evening Sky
There are no planets visible to the unaided eye in the evening sky this month.
Morning Sky
Mercury starts the month above Saturn in the eastern morning sky in the constellation Capricornus. By the 4th, Mercury is below Saturn and moving towards the east horizon into the constellation Aquarius where it will meet Jupiter later in the month.
Venus is in the eastern morning sky starting the month in the constellation Sagittarius. It then starts to move towards the eastern horizon, moving into Capricornus, briefly into Aquarius and then into Capricornus again. Mars remains Venus’ companion staying four degrees apart from the brilliantly shining planet for most of March.
Mars starts the month in the eastern morning sky in the constellation Sagittarius. It then joins Venus moving into Capricornus where it remains for the rest of the month. As mentioned above, Mars and Venus will be close together in the sky (about four degrees apart) during March.
Jupiter returns to the eastern morning sky on the 5th in the constellation Aquarius. On the 21st and 22nd the giant planet and Mercury will be 1.5 degrees apart.
Saturn is in the eastern morning sky in the constellation Capricornus where it remains for the month. On the 3rd it will be 0.7 degrees apart from Mercury.
Worth a Look:
8th: Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn are all within the constellation boundaries of Capricornus. They are easy to see as the brightest objects in this faint constellation. This grouping is a great opportunity for widefield photographers.
28th & 29th: The waning crescent Moon on the 28th is above and slightly to the south (right) of Mars with Venus and Saturn below and Jupiter closer to the horizon. On the 29th, the Moon will be below and to the south (right) of Venus and Saturn and almost directly above Jupiter. Both mornings provide a great opportunity for widefield photographers.
30th: The narrow waning crescent Moon and Jupiter are four degrees apart and close to the horizon, making this another good opportunity for widefield photographers, though a good view of the east horizon will be needed to capture the duo.
You can download a star map for March here.
Clear Skies!
References:
Dawes G., Northfield P., Wallace K. (2020). Astronomy 2022 Australia, Quasar Publishing.
Lomb, N. (2021). 2022 Australasian sky guide. Ultimo, NSW: Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Media.