March Astronomy: What’s in the North Texas Sky This Month?

FULL WORM MOON

The March full moon, known as the Worm Moon, will make for a night delight on March 6 and 7.

The name, Worm Moon, refers to a different sort of “worm”—beetle larvae—which begin to emerge from the thawing bark of trees and other winter hideouts from the 1760s.

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FLY-BYS

NASA/Roscosmos, File

The International Space Station will make flybys across North Texas sky this month. The ISS appears as a fast-moving star across the night sky.

The International Space Station rotates around the Earth at a speed of 17,500 mph. The ISS rotates about its center of mass at a rate of about 4 degrees per minute so that it will complete a full rotation once per orbit. This allows it to keep its belly towards the Earth. One revolution around the planet takes about 90 minutes (16 per day).

Also, the International Space Station lies at an altitude of 250 miles above the Earth. By the way, that is 1.32 million feet. Most commercial airplanes fly between 33,000 to 42,000 feet.

MOVING APART: JUPITER AND VENUS

Venus and Jupiter are moving away from each other this month.

An hour or so after sunset, look in the western sky to see both planets. Venus will be lower and the brighter of the two planets.

Btw, the two planets are over 400 million miles apart in space. Venus’s distance from the Earth varies from 24 million miles to 162 million miles. Jupiter’s distance from the Earth varies from 336 million miles to 600 million miles.

IT’S THE MOON AND SATURN

Look just above the east-southeastern horizon before sunrise on March 19th to see the thin crescent of the moon shining near Saturn.

The best viewing time will start around 6:30 a.m. local time. Be sure to turn all cameras and optical aids away from the eastern horizon before the sun rises.

Saturn’s distance varies from the Earth. When the two are closest, they lie approximately 746 million miles apart, or eight times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. At their most distant, when they lie on opposite sides of the Sun from one another, they are just over a billion miles apart, or 11 times the distance between the Earth and the sun.

URANUS MEETS THE MOON

On March 24th, Uranus will be positioned close to a waxing crescent moon, allowing skywatchers to see the blue-green planet’s dot in binoculars (orange circle) and backyard telescopes. The bright planet Venus will gleam below them.

Uranus varies in distance from the Earth from 1.6 billion miles at its shortest, all the way up to 1.9 billion miles depending on the stage of orbit the two planets are in.

MARS STOPS BY

Mars will be making a stop in the evening sky this month. Look for it near the moon on March 27th in the western sky.

Mars averages a distance from the Earth of 140 million miles. The closest recorded distance to Mars from Earth was recorded in August 2003 when the two were 34.8 million miles apart. According to NASA, the two will not be that close again until the year 2237. 

Please enjoy these events happening in the night sky this month. Until then…Texans, keep looking up!