Our Moon reaches perigee, (closest to Earth), for the second time this orbit, on Tuesday March 30th. For this perigee the 18-day old waning gibbous Moon will be at a distance of 28.24 Earth diameters, 223,880 miles (360,300 km) from the Earth.    On the date of the perigee Moon the 18-day old waning gibbous Moon will rise around 10 pm local time. The Moon is within the boundaries of Libra the Scales and on either side of the Moon are two stars with interesting sounding names. They are the stars Zubeneschamali and Zubenelgenubi. Despite these two stars belonging ..read more

   Monday evening the 16-day old waning gibbous Moon will be about 7-8o from the blue-white star Spica in Virgo the Harvest Maiden.             Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces ..read more

   On Friday March 26th the inner planet Venus will have moved into superior conjunction – on the opposite side of the Sun from the Earth. Venus will reappear on the east side of the Sun later next month and start becoming visible in the evening skies over the western horizon.             Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces ..read more

   Saturday March 27th is the annual Earth Hour celebration. Started in 2007 the Earth Hour celebration is a world-wide citizen-powered effort to call attention to our planet’s environment and the need to better take care of our home (our only home).    Earth Hour, although one hour, is an ongoing effort to encourage taking action about climate change as well as the destruction of nature and decreases in biodiversity.    So on Saturday evening March 27th, at 8:30 pm (your local time), turn the electrically powered lights off in your house for one ho ..read more

   Thursday evening March 25th the 12.6-day old waxing gibbous Moon will be about 2-3o from the ‘Heart of the Lion’, the star Regulus in Leo the Lion.             Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces ..read more

   I was looking at this picture from the other evening I got to thinking about the Rovers on Mars would see if they looked toward the Earth?    So as you wonder about that question, here is a look at Mars, by NASA, from last century (I love saying that instead of many years ago!), using data from the first Mars Orbiters. Take a simulated fly over the Martian surface above Mariner Valley and the large Martian volcanoes. Appropriately titled “Mars, the Movie”.    What would Earth look like from the surface of Mars? Here is a picture of Earth taken b ..read more

   Our Moon does not follow a path with the Earth around the Sun that is parallel with the Earth’s orbit, the ecliptic. The Moon is tilted or inclined by approximately 5.14o from the Earth’s orbital path meaning that there are places where the Moon’s orbital path intersects or crosses the Earth’s orbital path, the ecliptic. At up to 3 times each month the Moon will cross the ecliptic moving south or north in what is called a node crossing – one ascending and the other descending.     However with regard to the celestial equator, an extension of the Earth’s equator ..read more

   Saturday March 20th is an equinox day. While typically called the Vernal or Spring Equinox it is more globally appropriate to call this day the March Equinox as it is the start of Fall in the Southern Hemisphere. The official time for the equinox is 09:40 UT on the 20th which for my time zone is 5:40 am CDT. So for those in the northern hemisphere winter is ending and spring has ‘sprung’ (starts). From a geographical perspective we would describe the Sun as being over the Earth’s equator, and as this graphic shows there would be an equal amount of daylight and night on our pl ..read more

   Friday evening March 19th look for the 6.7-day old waxing crescent Moon to be about 3o from the ‘Red Planet’ Mars, and about 5-6o from the reddish star Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull. All three should just barely fit within the field of view of 7×50 binoculars.             Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to return to bobs-spaces ..read more

               Apogee – Descending Node – Conjunction with the Pleiades     Apogee Moon    Our Moon reaches apogee, (furthest from Earth), for this orbit, on Thursday March 18th. For this apogee the 6.6-day old waxing crescent Moon will be at a distance of 31.77 Earth diameters, 251,841 miles (405,300 km) from the Earth. Descending Node    The 6.6-day old waxing crescent Moon crosses the plane of the ecliptic moving south. This is known as the descending node, one of two inte ..read more