This month, observers can see all of the wandering planets known to sky watchers over the ages.


These five planets are visible to the naked eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

Venus is now in "evening star" mode and appears in the western sky after sunset.

Even in light-polluted New Haven, Venus shines brilliantly. A telescope reveals that the planet is fuller than half or, in other words, gibbous.

By month’s end, Venus resembles a half-moon.

Also at the end of March, the sun’s small neighbor, Mercury, reaches its greatest eastern elongation, meaning it is at maximum height over the horizon.

That’s only 19 degrees above the horizon because Mercury’s orbit is so small.

Also, Venus closes in on Mars as the month progresses. By the 31st, the planets are 9 degrees apart as seen from Earth.

Saturn, the ringed giant, appears high in the east-northeast sky after twilight.

Jupiter, the grandest planet of them all, remains visible all night.

Watch the Galilean moons orbit Jupiter at different speeds, casting shadows on the planet’s dense cloud tops.

You can see three separate Jovian eclipses on the 28th, as Callisto, Ganymede and Io all cast shadows on Jupiter’s surface.

Look west in late March and you’ll see a collection of the brightest objects. Brilliant Orion, Mars, Mercury, the Pleiades, and other prominent stars, Eridanus, Cetus, Aries, and Andromeda, are all out there.

Spotted Here