Today:
March kicks off with good views of the planet Jupiter, and yet you can see a pronounced change. Jupiter starts the evening halfway up in the west-southwest near 6:30 PM, but it won’t make it until midnight, setting by 10:30 PM. It loses height each evening through the next two months, lost in the Sun’s glare by May.
Saturday:
After midnight tonight, the Last Quarter Moon rises tantalizingly close to the bright red star Antares, the brightest star in the zodiac constellation Scorpius, the Scorpion. In the southeastern US, the Moon actually covers Antares, called an occultation. For us, this very close conjunction climbs higher through the early morning, due south at 5:30 AM as twilight blushes in the east.
Sunday:
You find two familiar constellation rising in tandem this evening. Due east prowls the Lion, Leo, coming into his own as he does each spring. Also returning to our skies, well to the Lion’s left, a pattern that looks a lot like a question mark. You’ll know it, even if it does appear vertical. It’s the Big Dipper making its return.