Friday, March 8
If you couldn’t find the Moon yesterday evening, try again tonight. It lies 10° higher and shows a noticeably fatter — but still stunning — crescent phase. The Moon gains altitude quickly from night to night because the ecliptic — the apparent path of the Sun across the sky that the Moon and planets follow closely — makes a steep angle to the western horizon after sunset in March. It causes the Moon to gain 10° of altitude each evening despite moving only 11° eastward relative to the Sun.

Mars continues to put on a nice show these March evenings. It appears nearly 40° high in the west once twilight fades to darkness and doesn’t set until after 10:30 p.m. local time. The magnitude 1.3 Red Planet lies among the background stars of Aries the Ram. Unfortunately, Mars shows little if any detail on its 5″-diameter disk when viewed through a telescope.

Saturday, March 9
This is a good week to look for Sirius in the evening sky. The night sky’s brightest star (at magnitude –1.5) appears highest in the south just as twilight ends. It then lies about one-third of the way from the horizon to the zenith when viewed from mid-northern latitudes. (The farther south you live, the higher it appears.) If you point binoculars at Sirius, look for the pretty star cluster M41 in the same field, just 4° below the star.

Sunday, March 10
Jupiter continues to grow more prominent before dawn. The giant planet shines at magnitude –2.1 and climbs 25° high in the south-southeast by the first hint of twilight. A telescope reveals Jupiter’s 37″-diameter disk and at least two conspicuous cloud belts as well as the planet’s four bright Galilean moons.

For most people in the United States and Canada, daylight saving time begins at 2 a.m. local time this morning. Set your clocks ahead one hour.