March 25-27, 2026: The First Quarter moon shines high in the south-southwestern sky with Jupiter, Castor, and Pollux. Watch it move night to night as it passes Jupiter and approaches the Full Pink Moon phase.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Venus as an Evening Star
First Quarter Moon
The moon reaches the First Quarter, or evening half-full phase, at 2:18 p.m. Central Time. As a spring evening moon, it is high in the sky with Gemini and Jupiter. Step outside about an hour after sunset, looking high into the south-southwestern sky. The bright object is Jupiter. The stars Castor and Pollux – the Gemini Twins – are nearby. During the next few evenings, the moon is in the same region.
Highlights
Here’s what to see at one hour after sunset:
• March 25: The slightly gibbous moon, 53% illuminated, is high in the southwest, 7.9° to Jupiter’s upper right.
• March 26: Tonight, the moon, 64% illuminated, is nearly on an imaginary line from Jupiter to Pollux. The lunar orb is 7.9° to the Jovian Giant’s upper left and 3.3° below the star.
• March 27: The moon, 74% illuminated, is high in the southeast in front of Cancer near the Beehive Cluster, but the bright moonlight overwhelms most of the cluster’s dimmer stars. It is over 20° to the lower left of Jupiter.
Watch the moon from night to night as it passes Jupiter and the Gemini Twins. It is moving toward the Full (Pink) Moon phase on April 1, the first bright full moon of spring.
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