This Week’s Sky at a Glance, 2020 February 29 – March 7
~by Curt Nason
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 calm days leading into April. As twilight ends this evening, 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 6:58 am and sunset will occur at 6:04 pm, giving 11 hours, 6 minutes of daylight (7:03 am and 6:10 pm in Saint John). Next Saturday the Sun will rise at 6:46 am and set at 6:14 pm, giving 11 hours, 28 minutes of daylight (6:50 am and 6:20 pm in Saint John).
The Moon is at first quarter this Monday and it is near the Beehive star cluster in Cancer on Friday. Telescope users can look for the Lunar X around 9 pm on Sunday, located within the shadow line and a little below centre. Jupiter sits between Saturn to its east and Mars to its west in the morning sky, with Mars closing the gap daily. Mercury rises a half hour before sunrise this weekend, extending that spread by 20 minutes next weekend. Venus rules the sky as Hesperus, the Evening Star, setting after 10 pm,
The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre on March 7 at 7 pm. All are welcome.
Questions? Contact Curt Nason.