This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2024 Feb. 24 – March 2
This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2024 Feb. 24 – March 2
Do you hear the wind? According to the weather proverb, March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, referring to roaring winds early in the month and calmer days leading into April. As twilight ends this week, look off to the east for a group of stars forming a sickle and leading a large triangle of stars. This combination is the constellation of Leo the Lion entering the sky as it did a few centuries ago, when the saying supposedly originated.
Now look to the west for a bent line of three stars west of the Pleiades star cluster. That is Aries the Ram, which could still be a lamb at heart. By the end of the month the annual march of constellations has Aries about to leave the sky as twilight ends. Our fickle weather won’t always follow the proverb but the constellations will continue to play it out for several generations to come.
This Week in the Solar System
Saturday’s sunrise in Moncton is at 7:07 and sunset will occur at 5:57, giving 10 hours, 50 minutes of daylight (7:11 and 6:03 in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:55 and set at 6:07, giving 11 hours, 12 minutes of daylight (6:59 and 6:13 in Saint John).
The Moon is full and one day from apogee this Saturday, giving us the Puny Moon for 2024. Don’t worry, you will be able to see it if the sky is mostly clear. The waning gibbous Moon will be seen near Spica on Wednesday morning. Wednesday is also conjunction day, with Mercury and Saturn slipping behind the Sun from opposite directions. Next Friday telescope users might catch Jupiter’s moon Io emerge from its shadow at 7:07 pm, and Europa disappear behind the planet at 8:44. Venus and Mars cross paths this weekend, rising an hour before sunrise, with Mars about half a binocular view to the right of Venus. Beginning Monday we have a two-week opportunity to see the subtle zodiacal light, which is caused by sunlight reflecting off interplanetary dust along the ecliptic. You will need a clear and dark sky to see this triangular glow reaching up from the western horizon toward the Pleiades.
On Sunday evening at 8 pm, tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show via the Facebook page or YouTube channel of Astronomy by the Bay. The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre at 7 pm on March 2.