This column was provided by San Benito County resident and amateur astronomer Ron Martin as part of a local series on astronomy. Lea este articulo en español aqui.
Why not? Go out into your backyard after dark and look up, there you go. Now that you’re a backyard astronomer, it seems simplistic. But it is. What do you see? Stars? Planets? Constellations? Asterisms? First, it helps to go out on a moonless night (on your weather app, you can see the moon’s rise and set, along with its brightness).
Your eyes need to adjust to the darkness; it takes about 30 minutes. There are many tools that make being a backyard astronomer fun, such as Stellarium, SkyPortal, and Night Sky, all of which are available on your phone. You point your phone up to the sky, and magically, you see the names of stars, planets, and constellations. At this point, all you need are your eyes (after adjusting to the dark) and your phone. The Sky app is a great source of information.
One of the most interesting nighttime targets: the Orion Constellation. The Orion is very easy to identify by its belt stars and two bookend stars, Betelgeuse (yellow) and Rigel (bright white). Start looking around 7:00 p.m. towards the southeast. Orion is lying on its side. As it rises, it slowly stands upright.
Orion Constellation
I once bought an 8” telescope and expected to see the moon, planets, and a whole lot more. I soon found out that it wasn’t so easy. You had to align the telescope with the stars that I had no idea where they were. So, I packed away that telescope and started learning the sky. YouTube has a wealth of knowledge. I found the one YouTube channel that had everything I needed. It is called “Learn the sky” (30) Learn the Sky – YouTube. The host is Janine, who is a high school science teacher. She has videos on how to read a star chart to how to find the Orion Constellation. After watching her videos for a year, I brought my telescope out of storage. Oh, my word, it was so easy to set up the telescope and find the planets and the stars I was struggling with before. Let’s spend a little time reviewing the astronomy glossary. This helps us as we listen to YouTube videos and read the phone sky apps.
Star: is a massive, luminous, and roughly spherical astronomical object composed of hot, ionized gas (plasma) held together by its own gravity. Stars produce their own heat and light, such as our Sun, through nuclear fusion, primarily converting hydrogen into helium at their core.
Planet: the literal meaning of “planet” is “wanderer” (derived from the Greek planētēs or planasthai), referring to how ancient astronomers observed certain celestial bodies “wandering” or moving independently across the night sky, unlike the “fixed” stars.
Constellation: an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere, containing a group of stars that appear to form a, often mythological, pattern or shape in the night sky. There are 88 officially recognized constellations, serving as essential, mapped regions used by astronomers to identify, locate, and navigate stars.
Asterism: a recognizable, unofficial pattern or grouping of stars in the night sky that is not one of the 88 officially recognized constellations. Often smaller and more distinct, they may lie entirely within a single constellation (e.g., the Big Dipper in Ursa Major)
The following is what you can find in the night sky in March:
Total Lunar Eclipse (“Blood Moon”) – March 3: The full “Worm Moon” will pass through Earth’s shadow, turning a deep coppery red. Visibility: Best seen from the Pacific, Australia, East Asia, and western North America. Timing: Totality lasts approximately 58 minutes, beginning at roughly 2:10 am PST.
Spring Equinox – March 20: This marks the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the start of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.
Start of “Galaxy Season“: As the winter constellations fade, the evening sky begins to face the Virgo Cluster and other galaxy-rich regions, making mid-to-late March ideal for deep-sky observation.
Planetary Sightings
Venus & Saturn Conjunction (March 7–8): Venus and Saturn will appear close together, about 1 degree apart, low in the western sky after sunset.
Moon & Venus Meetup (March 19–20): A slender crescent moon will appear near Venus in the constellation Pisces shortly after sunset. Moon & Jupiter (March 25–26): The waxing moon will be near Jupiter in the constellation Gemini for several hours. Mercury’s Best Morning View (Late March): By March 29, Mercury reaches its highest altitude in the morning sky for the month, visible just before sunrise.
This is only the beginning, as you get excited about the universe. You have the curiosity to explore the universe further. I did visual astronomy for a few years, which led to astrophotography. Local astronomy clubs are a fun way to meet people and receive tips from those who have been in the hobby for a long time. And lastly, I have a list of YouTube podcasts that I watch every month that cover what is in the night sky.
BBC Sky at Night Magazine
Late Night Astronomy
Sky & Telescope
Have fun and keep looking up.
Signing off.
Ron Martin
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