Planning to go stargazing this month? NASA finally released their monthly skywatching guide.
NASA Reveals Skywatching Guide This March
Every month, NASA has been releasing a skywatching guide for people who plan to observe the skies. The space agency recently released a video explaining the notable happenings to expect this month.
According to NASA, people can expect to see morning planets, the nearest star cluster, and some do-it-yourself exoplanets.
Saturn Joins Venus And Mars
One exciting event is that Saturn will be joining both Venus and Mars in the morning sky this month. Starting on March 18 or 19, early risers will be able to witness Saturn steadily approaching Mars and Venus each day, forming a trio low in the East before sunrise.
Meanwhile, on March 27 and 28, the crescent moon will join the party.
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Hyades Star Cluster
Apart from Saturn joining the other planets, people must also look above the Southwest on March evenings to locate the tall, bull, Y-shaped constellation Taurus. In the center of this constellation, skywatchers will find the Hyades star cluster forming the bull's face.
The Hyades star cluster contains hundreds of stars and it is the closest open star cluster to our solar system.
The space agency also explained that: "An open cluster is a group of stars that are close together in space and loosely bound together by their mutual gravity. These are stars that formed together around the same time, from the same cloud of dust and gas. Over time they blow away that leftover nebula material and drift apart."
"Open" clusters are so-named due to their open, or dispersed features.
Through this, NASA pointed out that skywatchers can observe Hyades without using a telescope. The simplest way to locate Hyades is by looking for a V-shaped cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus. Use the stars in Orion's belt as a compass to guide to identify the bright orange star Aldebaran.
Keep in mind that Aldebaran is not part of the star cluster, but it is located halfway to the Hyades. Think of it as the unwanted guest that you can't unsee.
Other Interesting Formations In The Skies
Apart from Hyades, the Epsilon Tauri, which is the Taurus bull's right eye, is the orange dwarf star that hosts an Eight-times-the-mass-of-Jupiter gas planet. Safe to say that "dwarf" might be a little misleading.
The 7 Canis Majoris will also appear in the skies this month. This star is located at the center of the dog constellation, which houses the brightest star, Sirius.
On the other hand, the star Tau Geminorum, which is located at the center of Castor, will also appear. Finally, Beta Ursae Minoris, the brightest star in the Little Dipper's bowl, may be seen spinning around to the north.
This star is orbited by a planet with a mass of six Jupiters.
It will be hard to remember these events and locations, so keep a copy of this page for future reference.
How To Use Your Mobile Phone To Capture Sky Events
As mentioned, some of the skywatching events this month do not require the use of telescopes. For this matter, CBC shared some ways for you to easily capture these sky events.
- In the dark wide-field area, set up your tripod and mobile phone.
- Once all set, open the camera app on your phone.
- Upon opening, point the camera to the skies and touch the screen to adjust the focus.
- After touching, tap and hold the screen to open the brightness settings.
- Once it appeared, adjust it accordingly.
- Lastly, take a photo of it.
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