What’s visible in March 2013?

British Summer Time is in effect from 31st March 2013 – times below are in UTC (GMT) except for those occurring after the clocks change!

What's visible in the sky above Liverpool in March 2013? Map is valid for: 1st March 2013 at 23:00 UTC 15th March 2013 at 22:00 UTC 31st March 2013 at 21:00 UTC / 22:00 BST

(Click to enlarge)
What’s visible in the sky above Liverpool in March 2013?
Map is valid for:
1st March 2013 at 23:00 UTC
15th March 2013 at 22:00 UTC
31st March 2013 at 21:00 UTC / 22:00 BST

The Sun

2nd March 2013 7th March 2013 12th March 2013 17th March 2013 22nd March 2013 27th March 2013 1st April 2013
Sunrise 06:57 UTC 06:45 UTC 06:34 UTC 06:22 UTC 06:09 UTC 05:57 UTC 06:45 BST
Sunset 17:52 UTC 18:01 UTC 18:11 UTC 18:20 UTC 18:29 UTC 18:38 UTC 19:47 BST

Vernal (Spring) Equinox occurs on Wednesday, 20th March 2013, 11:02 UTC

The Moon

Simple Lunar Phase: Last Quarter Simple Lunar Phase: New Simple Lunar Phase: First Quarter Simple Lunar Phase: Full Simple Lunar Phase: Last Quarter
Last Quarter New Moon First Quarter Full Moon Last Quarter
Date 4th March 2013 11th March 2013 19th March 2013 27th March 2013 3rd April 2013
Time 21:53 UTC 19:51 UTC 17:27 UTC 09:28 UTC 05:37 BST

The Moon will pass close to Jupiter on March 18th – see the entry for Jupiter below.

Planets

Mercury

There is a morning apparition of Mercury during the middle of March however it will be extremely difficult to see from this latitude.

Venus

Venus is approaching Superior Conjunction (reaching it on 29th March 2013) and cannot be observed.

Mars

Mars is also unobservable at present, due to its approaching Solar Conjunction next month.

Jupiter

Jupiter is still in Taurus (the bull) and easy to spot. Even good binoculars or a small telescope will show its four largest satellites: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
As our own Moon crosses the sky over the month, it will pass about 2½° to the South of Jupiter at about 02:00 UTC on the night of March 18th 2013.

Saturn

Saturn recently passed its Greatest Western Quadrature in January 2013, and as a consequence the planet is tilted as viewed from Earth, and therefore so are its rings. When they ‘open’ to us at this angle, their shadow is cast on to the atmosphere of Saturn and this should be observable with a telescope. The planet can currently be found in the constellation of Virgo (the virgin).

Comets

Comet C/2011 L4 (Pan-STARRS) begins the month being a Southern Hemisphere object, however as March progresses it will steadily become easier to view from our latitude – assuming it is still visible at all. Due to their inherent (and poorly understood) structure, Comets are notoriously temperamental and predictions for brightness must be taken with a pinch of salt.
Pan-STARRS is not expected to be a brilliant comet however with luck it will be observable with binoculars later in March in the evening sky.

Occultations

Date Time Event Object Occulted Occulted by
4th March 2013 04:09 UTC Reappearance Omega-Scorpii The Moon
6th March 22013 06:30 UTC Reappearance Mu-Sagittarii The Moon