Observing With Webb - March

Events: 4th – Occultation of Aldebaran – Almost all of the U.S. will be able to watch a very bright star DISAPPEAR behind the Moon!  As the Moon slowly marches across the constellations, sometimes it passes in front of bright stars that we can see disappear and reappear, and on the night of the 4th the Moon will pass in front of Aldebaran in Taurus. 12th – Daylight Savings Time Begins at 2am 14th – Close Encounter – Moon, Jupiter, Spica – Look E after 10:00pm or SW before 6:00am.  On the 14th the Moon, Jupiter, and Spica will make a nice triangle in the sky, with Jupiter to the right of the Moon and Spica.  20th – Close Encounter – Moon, Saturn – Look SE after 3am and before sunrise (7am).  Saturn will be the very bright point 2˚ below the waning crescent Moon on the 20th.  20th – Spring Equinox - Astronomically the first day of Spring, even though meteorologically Spring starts in the beginning of March.  Here’s some more info. 29th – 30th – Close Encounter – Moon, Mercury, Mars – Sunset is right around 7:30pm.  On the 29th, if you have a clear view of the western horizon, you should be able to catch Mercury and the Moon about 15˚ above the horizon, 9˚ apart from each other.  Binoculars should help.  On the next night, the Moon will be higher, and about 7˚ to the left of Mars. Enter the code for this week into this site: https://cosmoquest.org/achievements/code for a chance to win. This week's code is pGC3XF Do go visit http://astrogear.spreadshirt.com/ for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by Astrosphere New Media. http://www.astrosphere.org/ Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org. While you're at it, do support our Learning Space educator training program by going to this site: https://www.patreon.com/LearningSpace Please help us keep training the trainers! Learning Space is a weekly G+ Hangout on Air about topics in astronomy education, outreach and other ways to share science both in the school setting and outside it. We bring you interviews, hands-on demonstrations, lists of our favorite educational resources and more!