March is a great month to look up, as it is filled with eclipses and other celestial events that make for excellent night sky watching.
March 8 will be host to Jupiter at Opposition, where the giant planet will be at its closest approach to Earth, its face completely illuminated by the sun. It will shine brighter on that day than any other time of the year and will be visible all night.
"This is the best time to view and photograph Jupiter and its moons," says Sea and Sky, adding that a medium-sized telescope can reveal details in the giant's cloud bands while binoculars would allow one to see its four largest moons as bright dots.
March 9 will be marked by a total solar eclipse, a phenomenon occurring when the moon completely blocks the sun and reveals the sun's breathtaking outer atmosphere called the corona.
The path of totality will be visible only in areas of central Indonesia and the Pacific Ocean, with a partial eclipse hitting most parts of northern Australia and Southeast Asia. Friendly reminder: it's unsafe to look at the sun, so wear special solar glasses or use safe solar projection methods to witness the eclipse.
On March 20, the March equinox will occur at 04:30 UTC, with the sun shining directly on the equator and almost equal amounts of day and night throughout the globe. This day also marks the entrance of spring or vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, as well as the arrival of fall or autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.
On March 23, one can see a penumbral lunar eclipse, where the moon glides through the penumbra or partial shadow of Earth. During this time, the moon will fully or partly become immersed in Earth's shadow.
The eclipse will be visible throughout most of eastern Australia, extreme eastern Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and the North American west coast, including Alaska. No equipment is necessary to appreciate this event - simply watch the moon and its southern pole get a little fainter.
Europe, unfortunately, will miss out on both eclipses this March.
Mars is also putting on a show in the first half of March, it will be in the grips of Scorpius, the scorpion, which will rise in the east while the Orion the hunter and Canis major, the former's hunting dog, head toward the western horizon.
At the right time one can see the unique curled appearance of Scorpius lying above the horizon. The scorpion's body contains the bright star Antares, the so-called "rival of Mars," while the head are composed of three stars.
Mars will also be less than half a finger wide from double star Graffias. From a small telescope one can witness Mars and the bright pair exhibiting a visible disk.
