The Sky This Week: March 9 – 13
Wednesday, March 9
If your sky is clear you can spot the celestial lion tonight. Look toward the east for the constellation Leo the Lion. The easiest way to find it is to first find the Big Dipper, which tonight stands high in the northeast. Just poke a virtual hole in the Dipper’s bowl and follow the water as it runs out. You might hear a mighty roar as the water falls on Leo’s back. Now that you’re in the general area, search for a backward question mark with a bright star as its bottom. The question mark’s curve is the Lion’s head and mane. The bright blue star is Regulus, also known as Alpha Leonis. It marks Leo’s heart. The rest of the constellation lies to the east of the question mark. Look for a triangle of stars with bright Denebola (Beta Leonis) marking the tip of Leo’s tail.
Thursday, March 10
The Moon reaches perigee, the closest point in its orbit around Earth, at 2 a.m. EST. It then lies 223,389 miles (359,510 kilometers) away from us.
Friday, March 11
If you’re into comparisons, check out Mars sometime after it rises shortly after midnight. The Red Planet shines at magnitude 0.3, much brighter than the dim stars of Libra the Scales, within whose borders it lies. Then, after fixing the brilliance of Mars in your mind, remember to head out at the end of March and find it again. On the 31st, it will shine at magnitude –0.5, more than twice as bright as tonight.
Saturday, March 12
Head outdoors around 10 P.M. local time and look for the sky’s fourth-brightest star rising in the east. That’s Arcturus (Alpha Boötis), the luminary in the constellation Boötes the Herdsman. The easiest way to find Arcturus — just as with finding Leo a few nights ago — is to first find the Big Dipper high in the northeast. Note that the Dipper’s handle is curved. Follow that curve downward and you’ll come to Arcturus. Because the handle’s curve is also part of a circle called an arc, use the old phrase, “Follow the arc to Arcturus,” to remember how to locate the orange star.
Sunday, March 13
Daylight Saving Time begins this morning. Be sure to spring forward one hour.
The variable star Algol in Perseus reaches minimum brightness at 9:21 p.m. EDT, when it shines at magnitude 3.4. If you start viewing the star at that time, you can watch it more than triple in brightness (to magnitude 2.1) over the course of about 5 hours. This eclipsing binary star runs through a cycle from minimum to maximum and back every 2.87 days. Algol appears high in the west after sunset and sinks slowly toward the northwestern horizon after midnight.
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