EYES TO THE SKY: The Winter Circle, 5 planets, and a time change

February 23 – March 8, 2015

February segues into March with continued intrigue in the evening sky as stunning planet Venus overtakes diminutive, vermillion Mars in the west-southwest, best seen at nightfall. The waxing moon (increasing in size) catches the eye in the daytime heavens until early March and, in the evening, Luna moves with the brightest stars in the sky. Planet Jupiter, visible in the east soon after sundown, dominates the eastern periphery of the crowded field of brilliant stars known as the Winter Circle or Winter Hexagon. In morning twilight, find Mercury near the east-southeast horizon and, to the right and above, yellowish Saturn in the south. From dusk until dawn, take a tour of the five planets currently visible to the unaided eye in Earth’s skies.

The distant suns that form the Winter Circle begin to appear in the south at dusk and all are vivid by nightfall. Locate Sirius, the brightest and closest to the skyline, then proceed up and left to yellowish Procyon, then up again to Pollux and Castor. Brilliant Capella is above and to the right, on top. Look down and to the right for red Aldebaran and down, left, to bluish-white Rigel, the right foot of Orion the Hunter. The great Winter Circle that surrounds Orion may be seen traveling the celestial vault intact until around midnight when Sirius and Rigel are the first to set in the west.

All rise to the rising and setting of the Full Sap Moon on Thursday, March 5^th. (This gets acrobatic, but will smooth out with perseverance!) That morning, the round moon sets in the west at 6:07 a.m., 16 minutes before sunrise on the opposite horizon at 6:23. The moment of Full Sap Moon occurs at 1:05 p.m., making for a practically full moon in both morning and evening of the 5^th as well as setting on the morning of the 6^th. Still on the 5^th, moonrise is at 5:59 p.m. in the east, 10 minutes after sunset

in the west-southwest. Next morning, pause to enjoy a bright setting moon in the west at 6:35 a.m., 13 minutes after sunrise in the east-southeast. If hills block your view of the horizon, adjust moonrise and sunrise times later and moonset and sunset times earlier.

Take heed: These are the final two weeks of Eastern Standard Time (EST). Spring ahead an hour overnight Saturday into Sunday, March 8^th: Daylight “Saving” Time or Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) begins at 2 a.m. for most of the United States and Canada. I’ve heard that when told the reason for Daylight Saving Time a Native American said, “Only the Government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket.” Whereas true sunrise is at 6:20 a.m. on Saturday the 7^th, sunrise by the clock will be at 7:18 EDT on Sunday the 8^th. Sunset on the 7^th, 5:46; sunset on the 8^th, 6:50.