Today:
The Ides of March meant the middle of March to the Romans, and specifically the Full Moon, because their calendar was a lunar calendar. Today’s standardized calendars are no longer lunar, which explains why the Moon is a wide, waning Crescent, not rising until 4:45 AM EDT, low in the southeast, and fading from view by 6:30.
Thursday:
The Big Dipper looks like a question mark in the northeast. After months of asking “when is Spring?”, follow this question mark’s curve to find a star that announces Spring to our skies. Rising near 8:15 this evening, the bright star Arcturus comes up in the east-northeast, arriving each March in the evenings.
Friday:
The Scorpion is making his usual pre-dawn appearance as winter enters its final days. From 2:30 to 5:30 AM EDT, this “S”-shaped constellation climbs into the southeast, with its red star Antares due south at 5:40 AM, with its head and claws to the upper right, and body and tail curling like an “S” toward the horizon.