Stargazing Tips
The sky is full of wonders every night of the week. Use our viewing guide for the week ahead to plan your backyard outings.
March 12, 2010
The two closest and most prominent star clusters are high in the west at nightfall. The Hyades looks like a downward-pointing letter V, with a bright orange star at one point. The dipper-shaped Pleiades is to the right of the Hyades.
March 13, 2010
The divided halves of a snake are moving into the evening sky. Known as Serpens, the serpent, they rise beginning in late evening. The constellation is split because the snake wraps around the intervening stars of Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer.
March 14, 2010
A pale pyramid of light sometimes rises from the western horizon on moonless March evenings. It's called the zodiacal light because it is found in the zodiac. This glow is caused by sunlight reflecting off of microscopic dust grains in space.
March 15, 2010
The Moon is "new" at 4:01 p.m. CDT as it crosses the imaginary line between Earth and Sun. It is lost from sight in the Sun's glare, but should return to view on Wednesday evening as a thin crescent low in the west shortly after sunset.
March 16, 2010
The planet Venus is slowly returning to prominence. It is quite low in the west at sunset, and sets in early evening. Look for it a little to the left or upper left of the Moon as darkness falls tonight, and well below the Moon tomorrow evening.
March 17, 2010
When spring arrives on Saturday, the Sun will be passing through the constellation Pisces. Over time, though, the Sun's location at the vernal equinox slips westward. About 6,500 years ago, it was just above the head of Orion, the hunter.
March 18, 2010
Spring is just about to spring, but a great pattern of stars named for winter still dominates the western evening sky. The Winter Circle includes some of the most prominent stars of all, including Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.
Unless otherwise specified, viewing times are local time regardless of time zone, and are good for the entire Lower 48 states (and, generally, for Alaska and Hawaii).
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