2024, March 2: Scorpion Moon

March 2, 2024: The Scorpion Moon is in the southern sky before sunrise.  Bright Jupiter is visible after sundown.

Scorpius in the southern sky
Chart Caption – Look south during summer evenings to see the Celestial Scorpion.

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:23 a.m. CST; Sunset, 5:43 p.m. CST.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

Summer Triangle

2024, March 2: The Summer Triangle – Vega, Altair, and Deneb – appears in the east before morning twilight begins.
Chart Caption – 2024, March 2: The Summer Triangle – Vega, Altair, and Deneb – appears in the east before morning twilight begins.

Six bright stars, Arcturus, Vega, Altair, Spica, Antares, and Deneb shine brightly in the sky before morning twilight begins.  All are among the 15 brightest stars visible from the mid-northern latitudes.  Vega, Altair, and Deneb make the Summer Triangle in the eastern sky.  Vega is high in the east, while Deneb is to the lower left.  Altair is about one-third of the way up in the sky, above the east-southeast horizon. 

The triangle received its informal name because it appears low in the eastern sky during early summer.

Antares is in the south.  Farther westward, topaz Arcturus is over halfway up in the southwest and above sapphire Spica, less than a third of the way up in the sky.

This morning the firmament looks like a mid-July evening sky.  We see these stars after sunset during summer.

Summaries of Current Sky Events
Summary for Venus as a Morning Star, 2023-24

Here is today’s planet forecast:

Morning Sky

Scorpion Moon

March 2024 Astronomy Events, Scorpion Moon
Chart Caption – 2024, March 1-4: The moon appears against Scorpius before sunrise.

An hour before sunrise, the waning gibbous moon, 62% illuminated, is 4.8° to the lower right of Dschubba, the Scorpion’s forehead, a Scorpion Moon.

Westward-facing Scorpius is stretched across the southern horizon for sky watchers at mid-northern latitudes.  The figure resembles its namesake.  The heart is marked by rosy Antares.  Two stars nearby have the names artery, reinforcing the arachnid’s anatomy.  The body curves toward the horizon and angles up to Shaula and Lesath, also known as the Cat’s Eyes, at the stinger and to Antares’ lower left. 

Farther westward, the Scorpion reaches into the sky with its claws, Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali, today part of Libra.

Venus and Mars

2024, March 2: Venus and Mars appear in the same binocular field of view at 30 minutes before daybreak.
Chart Caption – 2024, March 2: Venus and Mars appear in the same binocular field of view at 30 minutes before daybreak.

After its morning show for the past few months, brilliant Venus heads towards its superior conjunction with the sun during early June.  While easy to spot, it is near the horizon during morning twilight. Earth’s Twin planet rises less than an hour before daybreak. Thirty minutes later, it is less than 5° above the horizon.

Use a binocular to see Mars 4.3° to the upper right of the Morning Star.  This observation is becoming more challenging.  To see Venus a little higher in the sky, the brightening morning twilight washes out Mars.  While they fit into the same binocular field for another week, the window to see Mars with Venus is closing.

Saturn is slowly making its way into the morning sky after its solar conjunction a week ago.  April 6 is the first morning to easily locate the Ringed Wonder, along with Mars and the lunar crescent.  The trio easily fits into the same binocular field of view.

Evening Sky

Mercury is quickly moving into the western evening sky.  It sets 17 minutes after the sun and gains five to six minutes of setting time compared to sunset during the next week.  The planet is bright as it emerges from bright twilight after its superior conjunction.

Jupiter

2024, March 2: Bright Jupiter is in the west-southwest as darkness falls.
Chart Caption – 2024, March 2: Bright Jupiter is in the west-southwest as darkness falls.

Easily outshining all the stars in the sky this evening, bright Jupiter is about halfway up in the west-southwest an hour after sundown.  It moves eastward in front of Aries.  The Jovian Giant is east of an imaginary line from Hamal, Aries brightest star, to Menkar, Cetus’ nostril.

Use a binocular to spot up to four of Jupiter’s largest moons and two star clusters, the Pleiades and the Hyades.

Jupiter sets about five hours after sundown and before midnight.  No bright planet is in the sky again until Venus and Mars are in the eastern sky during bright twilight.  The Scorpion Moon occults Antares tomorrow morning.

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