| Mar 01, 2012


By Fred Barrett

This month let’s talk about naming stars! There’s nothing to stop you from naming a star after yourself. When I was very young, there was a very bright star in the north that I decided was mine and I named it “Fred’s Star”. There are commercial enterprises that, for a fee, will name a star after you and provide all sorts of official looking documents to hang on your wall. Even educational institutes and charities have gotten into this lucrative business to raise funds. And the stupendous number of stars in the sky means that the supply is limitless.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is recognized by the world scientific community to name astronomical objects – asteroids, stars etc. In reality, the IAU has no international legal standing to name sky objects, so if you want to buy a plot on the Moon or Mars or have a star in your name, please feel free to send your dollars to a charity or commercial naming company. My brother did just that a few years ago for my birthday and I have the certificate hanging in my observatory. Nothing like having a giant ball of fusing hydrogen gas named after you!

The planets this month are in wonderful positions for some spectacular viewing. On and about March 3, and shortly after sunset, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter can be seen in the west. Mars is closest to us on March 5 and will be about 63 million miles away. It will be rising in the east shortly after sunset. In the southeast, the brightest star in our northern skies, Sirius, will be hard to miss about half way up the sky and to the left of great Orion. Mercury can be found about 30 degrees (3 fist widths) below and slightly to the right of brilliant Venus. Venus and Jupiter have been very bright and prominent in the west these last few weeks. Watch for the gap between them to shrink to about 5 degrees by March 9. They can be seen about a third of the way above the horizon.

Saturn, my favorite planet, rises in the east about 4 hours after sunset in early March but much sooner, about an hour after sunset, by late March. It’s a wonderful, not to be missed sight through a telescope!

From March 10 to 24 you can see the zodiacal light about an hour and a half after sunset in the west. It is a cone-shaped column of light that has been reflected from particles and debris in the plane of our solar system. It will provide a backdrop to Venus, Jupiter and the Pleiades star cluster.

Spring equinox, when the Sun crosses the equator heading north, occurs at 1:14am EDT on March 20. The days are getting longer and the songbirds are chirping!

Full Moon arrives on March 8 and I’ve always called it the Maple Syrup Moon. I’ll be boiling my maple sap soon after! It is also called the Full Sap Moon and the Full Crow Moon. Crows begin to caw to announce spring. Another name is the Full Worm Moon when worms start crawling out of the ground as the weather warms up.

There are no meteor showers this month but that shouldn’t stop you from going out to watch for stray meteors as you are admiring the planets. Don’t miss looking at Orion and its deep space objects, especially the Orion Nebula. A beautiful sight is Gemini above and to Orion’s left. Cancer is to its left and the star cluster M44 at its middle, is a naked eye object on a clear night. It’s spectacular. Leo, the Lion, is to Cancer’s left and Mars can be seen just below it.

Shortly after sunset on March 23, watch for a very thin crescent Moon about 1 fist width (10 degrees) above the western horizon.

Daylight savings time begins at 2 AM on March 11. Don’t forget!

 

 

If you have questions or suggestions, Fred Barrett may be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Beginner’s Observer’s Guide by Leo Enright is available at the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy or by contacting the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada www.rasc.ca/publications, subscriptions for our very own excellent Canadian astronomy magazine, Sky News, are also available from RASC..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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