Starwatch: The March night sky

If we have neglected to prepare for the solar eclipse on the morning of 20 March, there should still be time. It is probably too late, though, to find accommodation on the Faroe Islands or Svalbard which have the only land on the path of totality, from which the Moon obscures the Sun completely. Britain, and particularly Scotland, is well placed to enjoy a deep partial eclipse with 87% of the Sun’s diameter being hidden from London, 94% from Edinburgh and up to 98% for the outer Hebrides.

To prevent serious eye damage, on no account view the eclipse directly by the naked eye, or through any unprotected telescope or binoculars. Instead, use a pair of inexpensive eclipse glasses or project the Sun’s image through a pinhole or one side of a pair of binoculars. We may also purchase “astro solar safety film” that covers the objective (Sun-facing) side of our binoculars or telescope to drastically cut the heat and light to a safe level.

From London the eclipse lasts from 08:25 to 10:41, with maximum eclipse at 09:31 when the Sun appears as a dazzling sickle, horns upwards, which stands 29° high in the SE. Times for elsewhere differ by a few minutes and I will have more details here on the 16th. More widely, visibility of the partial eclipse extends as far south as Liberia and as far east as Mongolia.

Venus, brilliant at mag –3.9 to –4.0, dominates our W sky for the first three hours of the night. Mars, much dimmer at mag 1.3, stands below and right of Venus, their separation growing from 3.5° to 17° during March as Mars sinks lower into the twilight.

Jupiter, brighter than any star at mag –2.5 to –2.3, climbs from the E at nightfall to cross the meridian just prior to our map time. Now in Cancer, catch it below-right of the Moon on the 2nd and again on the 29th.

Saturn is a morning object of mag 0.5 to 0.3, best placed although low down in the S before dawn. Hovering 1.8° above-left of the double/multiple star Graffias in Scorpius, and 8° above the red supergiant Antares, it is close to the waning Moon on the 12th. Mercury remains hidden in Britain’s morning twilight.