In the Sky This Month

The Moon and two planets form an arc in the early morning sky tomorrow. Orange Mars is to the right of the Moon, with golden Saturn to the lower left of the Moon.

Look for Mars to the lower left of the Moon at first light tomorrow. The little planet looks like a bright orange star. Over the next few months, Mars will rise earlier and grow brighter each night as Earth moves closer to it.

From dark skywatching locations, a faint pyramid of light glows faintly in the west after nightfall the next few evenings. This dim glow is the zodiacal light, which is sunlight reflecting off of tiny grains of dust scattered around the inner solar system.

The planet Jupiter will stand close to the lower right of the Moon at first light tomorrow. It looks like a brilliant star. It is the brightest object in the night sky after the Moon and the planet Venus.

The planets Venus and Mercury are low in the west at sunset. Venus is the brighter of the two. Tonight, Mercury is close to its upper right. It’s not as bright as Venus, but its proximity to the “evening star” should help you pick it out.

Pyxis, the celestial compass, is quite low in the southeast at nightfall. It is a short streak of faint stars that aims toward the remnants of the Argo, the ship that carried Jason and the Argonauts.

Space rocks constantly pelt Earth, forming “shooting stars.” Most of them are so small that the meteors are faint, so you need a dark sky to see them. A few, caused by larger rocks, form fireballs, which are bright enough to see even from bright cities.

Canopus, the second-brightest star in the night sky, scoots low across the south on early March nights, but only for those south of about Dallas or Little Rock. As night falls, it is almost directly below Sirius, the night sky’s brightest star.

Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, arcs across the southwest on March nights. It’s in the south at nightfall and wheels westward later on. Not only is it bright, it’s also twinkly, shifting from blue to red to white in the blink of an eye.

The Moon tonight cozies up to the star Regulus, the bright heart of Leo, the celestial lion. At their closest as seen from most of the United States, they will be separated by just a whisker.