March 11, 2024: The March crescent moon returns to the western evening sky. Through a binocular, Jupiter appears with Planet Uranus.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:08 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 6:53 p.m. CDT. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.
Beehive Star Cluster
The Beehive star cluster, one of the 110 Messier objects that sky watchers seek, is visible throughout the next few months. The stellar bunch is part of Cancer, the large seemingly empty region of the night sky between the Gemini Twins – Castor and Pollux – that are high in the southern sky and Regulus – Leo’s brightest star – in the east-southeast.
In locales away from the overabundance of outdoor lighting, the cluster is visible as a tiny cloud. Through a binocular, individual stars are visible. The cluster appears inside a lopsided box, forming the Crab’s body, made by Asellus Borealis, Eta Cancri (η Cnc on the chart), Theta Cancri (θ Cnc), and Asellus Australis. The named stars are two donkeys – one north and the other south – eating at a manger, the other name for the cluster.
The Beehive appears about two-thirds the size of the famous Pleiades cluster. It is nearly 600 light years away. The Beehive or Praesepe appears smaller and dimmer, although it is about the same size as its more-famous sky mate.
Open Clusters
The Beehive and Pleiades are known as open or galactic clusters. They are found in the spiral arms of galaxies and they appear to have open spaces between the stars.
Astronomers gauge the ages of clusters by mapping their color and intrinsic brightness on a chart. Clusters with mostly blue stars are younger than those with orange and red members. Blue stars consume their nuclear fuels at high rates to maintain their high temperatures and sapphire colors. Once the fuels have been consumed, they transform into orange or red stars because their core temperatures heat up and inflate their outer layers that expand, cool, and appear topaz or rosy in color.
From mapping the populations of these clusters, the Pleiades is estimated to be about 100 million years old and the Beehive is less than ten times that age.
Through a binocular notice the abundance of blue stars in the Pleiades and the yellows and oranges in the Beehive.
Summaries of Current Sky Events
Summary for Venus as a Morning Star, 2023-24
Here is today’s planet forecast:
Morning Sky
Venus, Mars, Saturn
Brilliant Venus is moving toward superior conjunction with the sun during early June. The planet rises only 45 minutes before the sun. Twenty minutes later, it is less than 5° above the east-southeast horizon. It is visible from a location with a clear view in that direction.
Considerably dimmer Mars makes its way into the morning sky, but without a clear celestial guide, the planet is not easily visible. Rising 66 minutes before the sun, the Red Planet is 5° above the east-southeast horizon at 35 minutes before daybreak. A binocular is needed to see it.
Saturn, after its solar conjunction is moving into the eastern morning sky, although it rises less than 15 minutes before the sun. Consequently, it is lost in the sun’s glare.
Evening Sky
March Evening Crescent Moon
The March evening crescent moon, 4% illuminated, appears in the western sky after sundown. Each evening its phase grows and is farther eastward at the same time as the previous night.
Look for earthshine on the night portion between the cusps or horns. This effect is from sunlight reflected from Earth’s oceans, clouds, and land.
At thirty-five minutes after sundown, use a binocular to locate Mercury, nearly 4° above the western horizon. The planet is bright and visible without the binocular, but the optical assist initially identifies it. The speedy planet gains five to six minutes of setting time compared to sunset each evening. It is moving toward its best evening appearance of the year for northern hemisphere sky watchers.
Jupiter
About thirty minutes later, Jupiter is easily found less than halfway up in the western sky, above the lunar crescent that is about 10° above the horizon. The planet is slowly ambling eastward in front of Aries. It is noticeably east of a line from Aries’ Hamal to Cetus’ Menkar.
Through a binocular, the Jovian Giant and Uranus appear in the same field of view, although on opposite sides of the field. For the next two evenings, Jupiter approaches the star Omicron Arietis (ο Ari on the chart). In two evenings, the crescent moon appears with Jupiter and Uranus in the same binocular field.
To locate planet Uranus this evening, place Jupiter to the lower right edge of the binocular field. Uranus is toward the upper left edge near the star 53 Arietis. It may be necessary to move the binocular up slightly so that Jupiter disappears from the edge. Look for the star Rho Arietis (ρ Ari) inside a triangle of three dimmer stars, to the lower right of the more-distant planet. Uranus is aquamarine and looks like a star. A telescope is needed to see its globe.
At 9:15 p.m. CDT, Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is visible through a telescope at the center of the planet in the southern hemisphere.
Jupiter sets less than five hours after sunset and before midnight.
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