Mon Mar 2, 2026 TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE
The moon will be eclipsed tonight, or rather I should say, tomorrow morning, shortly before dawn. At ten minutes of five o’clock – that’s 4:50 a.m. eastern standard time, a dark “bite” will be taken out of the moon’s eastern limb. That bite will grow until the moon is completely eaten up by it, around 6:04 a.m. The bite of course is the earth’s shadow, and as we near totality the moon will take on an orange to red color, the result of sunlight being filtered through the earth’s atmosphere along the great planetary region where sunrises and sunsets are occurring, what’s called the twilight circle. In order to see this eclipse, which is perfectly safe to look at, you’ll need a clear view down to the west horizon with nothing blocking your view. We won’t get to see the moon come out of totality here in Florida however, because it will set before that happens!
Tue Mar 3, 2026 LEO’S RETURN
March, it’s said, comes in like a lion. This is meant to refer to the changeable weather of the new month, as cold winter air meets the warm breezes of spring. But there’s also an astronomical connection. Look south this evening and there you will find the bright stars of winter, in constellations such as Orion the Hunter, Taurus the Bull, the Big and Little Dogs, Auriga the Charioteer, and the Gemini, all marked by bright stars. Now look toward the east. Not much there. But toward the eastern horizon, you'll find another star called Regulus, and it represents the heart of the constellation Leo the Lion. Leo is the first of our springtime constellations. The Lion always comes into our eastern evening sky when March begins.
Wed Mar 4, 2026 SUN, SOLAR YEAR AND ECLIPTIC
Watch the sun and you’ll discover it gets around. But of course you can’t watch the sun - it’s too bright to look at without hurting your eyes. Assuming you could see the sun and stars at the same time, you’d notice the sun drifts against the background of the stars. If we think of the stars as being laid out on an invisible sphere, and there are 360 degrees of angle on a line inscribed on that sphere, then the sun moves along that line almost 1 degree a day. After 365 days, the sun would be back where it started. A solar year, then is the amount of time it takes the sun to go once around the heavens, and that invisible line that traces out its path is called the ecliptic. The constellations through which the sun passes each year make up the zodiac, and the ecliptic is its central line.
Thur Mar 5, 2026 CANOPUS
If you're outside after sunset tonight, or on any clear evening this month, you should notice a bright star-like object low in the southern sky. It hovers there near the horizon, and at first you might think it was an airplane's landing light. If you've been watching too much TV, you might even think it was a UFO. This particular UFO is easy to identify - It's the star Canopus, second brightest star of the night sky. Canopus, an important star for navigators, is in the constellation of Carina the keel; it marks the rudder of the famous mythological ship Argo, which carried Jason and his crew in search of the Golden Fleece. Folks in the Northern U.S. cannot see this star - the curvature of the earth blocks it from view. Only at southerly latitudes like Florida can Canopus be seen.
Fri Mar 6,2026 PLANETARIUM SHOW: ROCKET SCIENCE
This month marks the one hundredth anniversary of the patenting of the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket, by Robert Goddard, the father of rocketry. So I will be giving a talk on rocket science at Indian River State College’s Hallstrom Planetarium tonight and tomorrow afternoon. I’ll provide a little background on how rockets were developed and how they work, plus a history of the space program and also what’s in store for us in future space exploration. I’ll also point out the stars and constellations currently visible in the evening sky, displaying them on the great domed ceiling of the planetarium theater. These lectures will be on Friday night – that’s tonight - and Saturday afternoon – call 772 462 4750 for tickets. And if skies are clear this evening, the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society will let folks look through their telescopes to see the planet Jupiter and its moons.
