Sky News - CA (2020-03 & 2020-04)

EXPLORING THE NIGHT SKY

CHARTS BY GLENN LEDREW 25

SKYNEWS • MAR/APR 2020

DATE:

Monday, March 9

TYPE:

Perigean Full Moon

TIME:

Sunset

VIEW:

Naked eye, binoculars

Closest Full Moon of 2020

At SkyNews, we don’t usually partake in
Supermoon mania, but March does bring
two full moonrises for photo opportunities.

he March 9 Full Moon is the closest and largest
of 2020. he Moon reaches its annual perigee,
357,122 kilometres away. It will look about six
per cent to seven per cent larger than the aver-
age-sized Full Moon, a diference too small to
detect with the eye. It will rise during twilight a
few minutes after sunset. Being close to the spring
equinox when the Sun sets due west, the Full
Moon will rise about 10 degrees north of east in
southern Canada.

On March 10, the Moon, now a slightly waning gibbous, rises nearly

due east 80 to 90 minutes later than it did March 9. It will rise into a

dark sky, which is usually not as photogenic.

he time change is due to the angle of the ecliptic (the path of the

planets) with respect to the eastern horizon. he ecliptic is steep in

spring, but shallow in autumn. In March, that steep angle means the

Moon’s eastward orbital motion moves it much farther below our

horizon on successive nights. he Moon therefore rises much later

from night to night than it usually does.

DATE:

Wednesday,

March 18

TYPE:

Conjunction

TIME:

Dawn

VIEW:

Naked eye,

binoculars

A planet meetup in the morning

We can look forward to a ine year for planets in 2020, with Venus,

Mars, Jupiter and Saturn all putting on superb shows. his spring,

Venus dominates the western evening sky.

To ind the other three planets, look east at dawn. You’ll ind Jupiter

and Saturn together, as they will be all year. But in March and April,

you’ll also ind Mars in the morning sky, making up a trio of pre-

dawn planets.

he best morning to see these worlds is March 18, when the

waning crescent Moon joins the group. hey will almost it into

a seven-degree binocular ield.

Two mornings later, the Moon moves on, but Mars moves eastward

to sit just 40 arc minutes below Jupiter. he two planets will then be

visible within a medium-power telescope ield.

By the morning of March 31, the rapid motion of Mars takes it to

another conjunction, this time to within a degree of Saturn. Mars

continues to trek eastward, parting company with the giant planets

in late spring. But Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be prominent in our

summer and autumn evening sky.