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Observer's Archives - Mar 2003Website archive 1995-2013 |
Victoria Centre is part of the national Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, which is dedicated to bringing information about astronomy to the general public. |
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February 23 to March 2 Spring skies seem bland and uninteresting; dull, sparse constellations, no glittering Milky Way. We're looking away from our home galaxy into a universe that extends back to the big bang. Galaxy hunters stalk their prey southeast of Leo and in Virgo (although any vista above and below our galaxy contains galaxies galore). March 3 to March 8 Watch for Vega's appearance in the east-summer's coming! It's really not that
cold, is it? March 9 to March 15 Mars lurks near the globular cluster, M22. On March 12th, we see Neptune in the background and Venus in the foreground. Pretend you are looking down on the Solar System. Try to sketch where you think we are relative to the Sun, then plot Venus and Neptune. Where would Uranus be? Take another look at Venus near the end of the month. Does it look like Venus has a companion? Who is this companion? The Moon and Jupiter lie close in the sky on the 14th. March 16 to March 22 Vesta is in opposition and is almost 6th magnitude. Once you've identified it in binoculars you should be able to see it with just your eyes-be sure to get away from city lights. March 23 to March 29 Venus has been closing in on Uranus in the morning sky. On the 28th, Venus and Uranus hang close to each other and we'll see them closer together here than any other time zone in North America.
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