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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through March 28th, 2018. Here’s what’s happening in the skies of southern California.
The moon lights the evening sky and waxes from crescent to first quarter on the 24th. Its phase is gibbous on the remaining nights leading up to the full moon on March 31st. Until then, the moon remains in the sky for a longer period on successive nights; moonset is at 11:35 p.m. on the 21st, and at 5:11 a.m. on the 28th. The rugged lunar landscape is featured through Griffith Observatory’s public telescopes.
The planet Venus also goes through phases, but these are only visible through a telescope. To the unaided eye, Venus is the brightest planet, and outshines all other astronomical objects in our sky after the sun and moon. It is the brilliant object that gleams over the western horizon for about 90 minutes after sunset. Although Venus is closer to the sun than our planet, it is now on the far side of its orbit from us, so, through a telescope, it currently looks very tiny and fully lit. It will gradually approach us and move between Earth and the sun. Its telescopic size will grow, and it will appear crescent late in the summer.
The largest planet, Jupiter, is the second brightest planet, and it rises over the horizon in the east-southeast at about 11:15 p.m., against the starry background of the constellation Libra the Scales. Jupiter is highest in the sky when it crosses the meridian in the south at 4:20 a.m., and it moves to the southwest by dawn.
At 6:00 a.m., shortly after dawn starts, golden planet Saturn and orange Mars appear close together in Sagittarius the Archer in the south-southeast, to the lower left of Jupiter. On the 22nd, Mars is about six degrees to the right of Saturn, but by the 28th, the separation shrinks to three degrees, and Mars will be to the lower right of Saturn.
China’s prototype space station, the now abandoned Tiangong-1, is expected to make a final fiery trip through Earth’s atmosphere between March 28th and April 5th, with some experts stating that March 31st is the most likely date. There still could be remaining opportunities to see it from Los Angeles before its demise, but predictions are rapidly changing due to a recent geomagnetic storm that has accelerated the rate of its descent to more than one mile per day. Look at the Heavens-Above satellite tracking Website before you attempt to observe the doomed, school-bus-sized satellite. Note that you must correctly enter your observing location in order to generate accurate viewing information. Updated predictions on Tiangong-1’s re-entry are available on the Website of the Aerospace Corporation.
Free views of the Sun during the day and of the moon, planets, and other interesting celestial objects at night are available to the public in clear weather through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes from Tuesday through Sunday, before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for the schedule. The next free public star party on the grounds of Griffith Observatory, hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, will take place on Saturday, March 24th.
Follow the Sky Report on Twitter for updates of astronomy and space-related events.
From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.