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The sky switches to spring

Spring images, delicate light glow, Mars and two old acquaintances

In March there is a lot going on in the night sky: as the nights get shorter and shorter, the constellations of spring increasingly replace the winter hexagon and herald the next season. On 20 March the time has come: the astronomical beginning of spring has arrived. And that is by no means the only date in March that you should remember. Let's take a look at the highlights in March - as usual, you can get more detailed information in our Sky Guide.

Spring images are moving in


The sky is switching to spring: While winter images can still be seen in the evening with Orion and Taurus high in the southwest, spring images are already approaching in the east. After midnight and throughout the second half of the night, the southern sky will be dominated by Leo, Bear and Virgo with their main stars Regulus, Arcturus and Spica. And they're not hard to find at all: Look for the Big Dipper (just above your heads in the zenith), extend its drawbar towards the horizon - and you've found Arcturus. If you continue to extend the drawbar in a slight arc, you will find the bright, bluish Spica in Virgo. The constellation of Leo lies to the right below the Big Dipper - the brightest star Regulus is then already the third corner of the spring triangle.


20 March is the beginning of spring - the nights are getting shorter


No wonder, because it will soon be the beginning of spring: on 20 March at 10:37 a.m. the sun will cross the equator in the direction of the northern hemisphere. On this day, day and night will be the same: The sun rises exactly in the east, at noon it is vertically above the equator and in the evening it sets again exactly in the west. From 21 March, the sun's path runs north of the equator and the days are longer than the nights. In March alone, the length of the day really increases: by about two hours! But this also means that the time for stargazing decreases, because the dark night shrinks from about nine hours at the beginning of March to about seven and a half hours at the end of March.

Delicate cone of light on the western horizon


After sunset in late twilight, you can see the rare Zodiacal light on the western horizon around 1 March, far from the disturbing light of towns and cities. The delicate cone of light can be seen for one to two hours - and is nothing more than dust particles orbiting the Sun and reflecting its light.


Mars in the Golden Gate


Planets are rather scarce in March and in the first half of the night Mars is even the sole ruler. Our red neighbouring planet is already high in the southwest at sunset, but sinks again around midnight (at the beginning of the month around half past twelve, at the end of the month even well before midnight). Mars offers the first highlight of the month when it passes the Golden Gate of the ecliptic on 5/6 March. The Golden Gate is formed by the two star clusters Pleiades and Hyades. Each star cluster marks a gatepost. If it is cloudless, you can observe the impressive constellation very well with binoculars, but the event can also be seen with the naked eye. Mars appears practically as the twin of the red giant Aldebaran in Taurus. It resembles it in colouring and brightness.


Jupiter and Saturn back


Once Mars has set, you have to be patient for a few hours until planets can be seen again - and then only from mid-March. Then, early in the morning, around six o'clock, two old friends reappear in the eastern firmament: Jupiter and Saturn. The two gas giants are close together and look like a double star.


But let's get back to Mars, which is currently at the centre of scientific and public interest anyway: three separate Mars missions are currently underway. The United Arab Emirates, the People's Republic of China and the USA have sent space probes to our neighbour. On 18 February, NASA's Mars rover Perseverence even landed a mission on the Red Planet.


Moon at Mars

Mars will be a pretty sight on 19 March, when it will be joined by the slender crescent Moon. Or rather, positions itself right between Mars and Aldebaran, the main star in Taurus: Mars is to the right of the Moon, Aldebaran to the left. At the end of March, Mars will be in the middle of the winter hexagon.



March 28: Beginning of summer time

And there is another important date in March: The clocks will be changed again on March 28, 2021 - from two in the morning to three in the morning.







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