March Astronomy: What’s in the North Texas Sky This Month?

FULL MOON

March’s full moon, known as the Worm Moon, will be a nighttime delight on March 6 and 7.

The name “Worm Moon” refers to another species of “worms” – beetle larvae – that begin to emerge from the thawed bark of trees and other winter shelters from the 1760s.

FLIGHTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

This month, the International Space Station will fly over the skies of North Texas. The ISS looks like a fast moving star across the night sky.

The International Space Station orbits the Earth at 17,500 miles per hour. The ISS rotates around its center of mass at a speed of about 4 degrees per minute, so it completes one revolution once per orbit. This allows him to keep his belly towards the Earth. One revolution around the planet takes about 90 minutes (16 per day).

In addition, the International Space Station is 250 miles above the Earth. That’s 1.32 million feet, by the way. Most commercial aircraft fly between 33,000 and 42,000 feet.

DIFFERENT: JUPITER AND VENUS

Venus and Jupiter are moving away from each other this month.

About an hour after sunset, look up at the western sky to see both planets. Venus will be the lower and brighter of the two planets.

By the way, the two planets are over 400 million miles apart in space. The distance of Venus from Earth varies from 24 million miles to 162 million miles. Jupiter’s distance from Earth varies from 336 million miles to 600 million miles.

THIS IS THE MOON AND SATURN

Look directly above the east-southeast horizon before sunrise on March 19 to see a thin crescent moon shining near Saturn.

The best viewing time will start around 6:30 am local time. Don’t forget to take all cameras and optical instruments away from the eastern horizon before sunrise.

Saturn’s distance from Earth varies. When they are closest, they are approximately 746 million miles apart, or eight times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. At their most distant, when they lie on opposite sides of the Sun from each other, they are just over a billion miles apart, or 11 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun.

URANUS MEETS THE MOON

On March 24, Uranus will be located near the growing crescent, which will allow skywatchers to see the blue-green dot of the planet through binoculars (orange circle) and telescopes. Beneath them, the bright planet Venus will shine.

The distance from Uranus to Earth varies from 1.6 billion miles in its shortest path to 1.9 billion miles depending on the stage of the orbit the two planets are in.

MARS STOPS

Mars will make a stop in the evening sky this month. Look for it near the Moon on March 27 in the western sky.

Mars is on average 140 million miles from Earth. The closest recorded distance to Mars from Earth was in August 2003, when they were 34.8 million miles apart. According to NASA, they won’t be that close until 2237.

Please enjoy these events taking place in the night sky this month. Until then… Texans, keep looking up!