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The Vernal Equinox, and other things to stargaze for this March

By Barbara Marchadesch

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On March 20 at 1:00 p.m., the Sun will reach the First Point of Aries, an imaginary point in the sky where the ecliptic (the path that the Sun follows across the sky) meets the celestial equator—in other words, when the Sun crosses the imaginary line in space above, and corresponding to, the Earth’s equator. When this occurs, we get the Vernal Equinox, the start of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. For the Southern Hemisphere, it will be the Autumnal Equinox.  
 
Equinox comes from the Latin for “equal night”. During the equinox, the Earth’s axis is neither tilted away from or towards the Sun as usual, but is perfectly straight. This results in a day and a night that are of nearly equal length all over the world.
 
Each year has two equinoxes, one occurring around March 19 or 20 and the other around September 22 or 23. After the March equinox, the North Pole will angle towards the sun, resulting in longer days than nights and the Northern Hemisphere will move from spring into summer. 
 
The date is also important in Christianity, because Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the March equinox.
 
The second equinox for 2012 will fall on September 22. It will be the autumnal equinox for the Northern Hemisphere and the vernal equinox for the Southern Hemisphere.
 
Other things stargazers can look for this month, according to PAGASA: 
 
  • Venus and Jupiter will become a spectacular sight in the western horizon after sunset during the month. Venus will be shining brilliantly at magnitude -4.2 while Jupiter will dazzle at magnitude -2.1.
  • Mars will be at opposition with the Sun and will be at its closest approach to Earth on March 5 at a distance of 101 million kilometers. It will be located at about 7 degrees from the eastern horizon and will be glowing at magnitude –1.2. It will lie among the background stars of the constellation Leo, the Lion.
  • Saturn will be visible for observation throughout the month. It will be located at about 18 degrees above the east southeastern horizon.
  • Uranus and Neptune will be too close to the Sun for observation.
  • March 10, 6:00 p.m.:  Moon at perigee—this is when the Moon is at its nearest distance to Earth and therefore its gravitational pull will be stronger. This may result in higher tides and a greater variation between high and low tide. The Moon will also appear slightly larger than usual.
  • March 22, 3:00 a.m.: Mercury in inferior conjunction. This means that Earth and Mercury lie in a line on the same side of the Sun.
  • March 26, 2:00 a.m.: Moon at apogee, or when it is farthest from the Earth. This may help result in lower tides and a smaller variation between the high and low tide level. 
— TJD, GMA News
Tags: pagasa, stars, stargazing
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