Updated March 8, 2024
NOTE: you can now follow the discussion below with a free planetarium program called Stellarium. To access the web version, go to https://stellarium-web.org/ and allow it to access your location to provide you with an accurate simulation of your nighttime sky. Experiment with it to learn more about the constellations mentioned below, and more.
NOTE: Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 am local time for most of North America on Sunday Morning, March 10. Clocks move ahead one hour.
The brightest nighttime star is Sirius and it is due south on the meridian at dusk. Sirius sits at the bottom of the equilateral Winter Triangle. The other two stars are Betelgeuse to the upper right, and Procyon to the upper left. Sirius acts as fulcrum to balance the triangle in early evening. Two asterisms can be made out of the star patterns. One is an equilateral “Winter Triangle” that includes Sirius at the lowest corner, then Betelgeuse about 20 degrees above Sirius. The left corner, to complete the triangle, is Procyon. Sirius and Procyon make up part of an even larger asterism, the Winter Hexagon. Start again with Sirius at the bottom and follow this imaginary shape through Procyon, Pollux and Caster, Menkalinan (the medium bright star near Capella) and Capella higher up, over and down to Aldebaran, then drop to Rigel before returning to Sirius to complete the six-sided asterism figure.
By 9 pm local time, the Big Dipper stands upright on its handle in the northeast. In the northwest, Cassiopeia stands on end, almost at the same height above the horizon. Between the two is Polaris the North Star. At this same time Capella shines high overhead near the zenith. The brightest star about midway from Capella to Cassiopeia is Mirfak (alpha Persei), the brightest star of the constellation Perseus. It sits at the lower right edge of the alpha Persei star cluster. The cluster shows up very well through binoculars. Mirfak is a true member of the cluster, not a foreground object. Both it and the cluster sit 560 light years away. The “spring star” Arcturus is now becoming visible low in the east northeast by mid-evening. It is well up into the eastern sky by 11 pm local time. The Big Dipper is high in the northeast and its curved handle curves to Arcturus’s location. Continue on a straight line to “speed on” to Spica, rising in the east southeast by late evening.
To the upper right of Orion, high in the west, is Taurus, pinpointed by its brightest star Aldebaran. To the right of this star is the Pleiades star cluster, which leads these groups of constellations across the sky. Compare the colors of Aldebaran and Betelgeuse (the upper-left most bright star of Orion). Aldebaran is an “orange giant” (spectral type K5 III) and Betelgeuse is a “red supergiant” (spectral type M1). They appear to be about the same color. Use binoculars to see if there is any difference, then defocus the images and compare the results. Below and left of Orion is the “dog star” Sirius, and to the left of it is Procyon. Sirius (spectral type A0) is hotter than the Sun and appears cold white or blue-white; and Procyon (spectral type F5) appears slightly yellowish or a warm white shade. Again use binoculars to compare each and try to defocus the binoculars to get a better view of the colors. It is best to do this experiment a little later in the evening when the stars are higher up and not altered as much by atmospheric turbulence and reddening.
Leo, one of the traditional spring constellations, is making its way into the evening sky these late-winter evenings. By the time astronomical spring arrives, 11 days from this writing, it will be well up in the eastern sky at nightfall. Meanwhile, the most prominent winter constellation, Orion, is highest in the south by dusk. Below and left of Orion is the bright star Sirius, brightest of the Canis Major constellation. To the right of it is the little constellation Lepus the Hare. Canopus, the second brightest nighttime star after Sirius, is almost due south of Sirius by 36 degrees or so. It never appears above the southern horizon for viewers north of latitude 37 degrees. South of this latitude, Canopus is visible: from Houston (30 degrees north latitude), it appears about 7 degrees up due south around 7 or 8 pm local time. This is 21 minutes before Sirius passes due south.
The stars and constellations of summer are gaining elevation in the predawn sky. Scorpius is almost due south at dawn’s first light, followed by Sagittarius. The Summer Triangle is now visible in the predawn sky, getting higher with each passing morning. Venus shines low in the southeast during dawn and is getting lower with each passing day.
Go to https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/observing-news/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-march-8-17/ for this week’s “Sky at a Glance”, where you will find the current “Sky at a Glance” (currently for the week ending March 17). There are lots of links to interesting news stories and additional observing projects, including the upcoming Penumbral Lunar Eclipse (March 25) and Total Solar Eclipse (April 8) for those who are interested.
Solar observations have paused for Spring Break and because of other commitments. The current scheduled re-start date is 20 March. The latest images obtained from Prairie View Solar Observatory can be viewed at https://www.pvamu.edu/pvso/solar-observations-2024/.
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We observed and imaged the total lunar eclipsed that occurred during the predawn hours of 8 November. The images and report can be viewed at https://www.pvamu.edu/pvso/cosmic-corner/total-lunar-eclipse-2022-1-2/. Partial lunar eclipse began at 3:09 am CST, total eclipse started at 4:16 am CST, maximum eclipse (when the Moon should appear darkest) at 4:59 am CST, total eclipse ended at 5:42 am CST, and partial eclipse finished at 6:49 am. The subtle penumbral shading was detectable some 30 to 40 minutes before and after the partial stages. Lots more information can be found at Sky and Telescope’s eclipse page.
Over a year ago, a Total Lunar Eclipse, with totality lasting nearly 85 minutes, was visible across North and South America (except the far northwest part of North America). Partial eclipse began at 9:28 pm CDT (May 15), totality began at 10:29 pm, mid eclipse was 11:12 pm, total eclipse ended at 11:54 pm and partial eclipse ended at 12:56 pm, CDT (May 16). We did observe the event and got pictures, check out this website for these.
Jupiter was hit by a meteor in 2021, see https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/jupiter-whacked-again-japanese-astronomers-record-possible-impact/, for more information on what is the 11th confirmed observation of a fireball to burn up in its atmosphere. We plan to organize a campaign to watch for fireballs in Venus’ atmosphere early this summer; check back for more details in the near future. There was another event documented on 28 August 2023. You can read all about it at this website.
The Perseverance rover continues to perform wonderful feats of science, from finding evidence of a raging river, to making 10 g of pure oxygen from the Martian air to watching a small drone helicopter take its 51st flight over the Martian wasteland. For more information on it and other activity on Mars, visit mars.jpl.nasa.gov. Also, Curiosity has returned some beautiful sunset pictures of cirrus-like clouds in the Martian sky.
Observations of the partial phase of the May 2021 lunar eclipse (taken with smartphone and a University telescope), along with unfiltered, stacked galaxy and cluster images, can be viewed from the project update website https://www.pvamu.edu/pvso/cosmic-corner/project-summary-2/. We are currently experiencing an extended spell of inclement weather, preventing much observing, but as conditions improve we plan to resume nighttime observations along with regular solar observations. Information on all the eclipses that will occur in 2022 can be found at this link.
The PVO complex has 3 domes, including the existing “Classic” Solar Observatory, and two new domes. For updates on this progress check out https://www.pvamu.edu/pvso/cosmic-corner/project-summary-2/. Also, more information and images can be viewed at https://sites.google.com/view/saganti-astro/home. The two newer domes contain our Meade 16-inch advanced telescope (east dome, an Astrohaven clamshell-type dome) and a new 0.6 meter (24-inch) PlaneWave Corrected Dall-Kirkham telescope (west dome, an Ash dome). The design features these two domes situated east and west of a visitor’s center, which is immediately north of the existing Solar Observatory. Work is planned to resume on the 24-inch in early 2024.