• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Main Navigation
  • Skip to Search

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington IU Bloomington

Open Search Menu

The College of Arts & Sciences

Department of Astronomy

  • Home
  • About
    • Visit Us
    • Virtual Tour
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Code of Conduct
    • History
    • Alumni & Giving
  • Directory
    • Faculty
    • Adjunct Faculty
    • Emeriti Faculty
    • Research Associates & Postdocs
    • Graduate Students
    • Staff
  • Undergraduate
    • Astronomy Club
    • Astronomy and Astrophysics B.A.
    • Astronomy and Astrophysics B.S.
    • Physics & Astronomy and Astrophysics B.S.
    • Astronomy and Astrophysics Minor
    • Courses
    • Honors Program
    • Academic Advising
    • Research Opportunities
    • Financial Support
    • Student Experience
    • Career Preparation
  • Graduate
    • Admissions
    • Astronomy Ph.D.
    • Astrophysics Ph.D.
    • Astronomy M.A.
    • Astronomy Ph.D. Minor
    • Graduate Handbook
    • Courses
    • Research Areas
    • Graduate Experience
    • Recent Dissertations
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Previous Qualifying Exams
  • Research
    • Research Areas
    • Observatories
    • Computing Resources
    • Undergraduate Research
  • Outreach + Education
    • Kirkwood Observatory
    • Kirkwood Solar Lab
    • Informal Science Education
    • Teaching Resources
    • StarTrak
    • Bicentennial Images
    • Solar Eclipse 2024
  • News & Events
    • Departmental News
    • Highlights
    • Events
    • Colloquium Schedule
    • Tea Talk Schedule
    • Edmondson Lecture
    • Alumni News
  • Search
  • Quick Links
  • Contact
  • Student Portal
This text appears when someone is browsing using assistive technologies.
  • Kirkwood Observatory
  • Kirkwood Solar Lab
  • Informal Science Education
  • Teaching Resources
  • StarTrak
    • Star Trak Archive
  • Bicentennial Images
  • Solar Eclipse 2024
  • Home
  • Outreach + Education
  • StarTrak
  • Star Trak Archive
  • Star Trak: March 2022

Star Trak: March 2022

By: Hal Kibbey

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

This text appears when someone is browsing using assistive technologies.
Artist Rendering of Venus

For immediate release: March 1, 2022

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Venus will be the first planet to appear in the morning sky during March, rising two hours before the sun and dazzling 20 degrees high in the southeast a half hour before dawn.

A half hour later Mars will rise, glowing with an amber color compared with brilliant white Venus. The two planets will move together into the constellation Capricornus during March. They will be closest on March 15, when they will be 4 degrees apart.

Venus will form a tight triangle with Mars and Saturn low in the east on March 24 and 25 an hour before sunrise. The best scene will be on March 28, when the crescent moon will join the trio of planets as morning twilight brightens.

Mercury and Saturn will be less than 1 degree apart when they rise shortly before 6 a.m. local time on March 2. See if you can spot the pair 30 minutes after they rise, when they will be 6 degrees above the southeastern horizon. Mercury will be slightly brighter than yellow Saturn. Mercury will then quickly descend into the brightening dawn until it disappears in the second week of the month.

Jupiter will pass through conjunction with the sun on March 5. The giant planet will be out of sight in the solar glare until the end of the month, when it will be just above the eastern horizon a half hour before dawn.

The only planet visible in the evening sky during March will be Uranus. A good opportunity to spot the bluish-green planet will come on March 6, when it will be about 4 degrees northeast of the crescent moon in the constellation Aries. Binoculars will be needed to pick out Uranus.

Equinox

The sun will cross the celestial equator (an extension of Earth's equator onto the sky) at 11:33 a.m. EDT March 20 heading north. This will mark the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. For the next six months in the Northern Hemisphere, the days will be longer than the nights.

Day and night are not precisely the same length at the time of the equinox. That happens on different dates for different latitudes. At higher latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, the date of equal day and night occurs before the March equinox. In the Southern Hemisphere, this happens after the March equinox. Information about the exact time of the equinox at different places on Earth's surface is provided by the U.S. Naval Observatory.

Moon phases

The moon will be new on March 2, at first quarter on March 10, full on March 18, and at last quarter on March 25.

Author: Hal Kibbey Email: hkibbey [at] gmail.com

  • Faculty + Staff Intranet

Department of Astronomy social media channels

  • Twitter
  • College of Arts & Sciences
  • Department of Astronomy

The College of Arts & Sciences

Indiana University

Copyright © 2025 The Trustees of Indiana University

Accessibility | College Scorecard | Privacy Notice

The College of Arts & Sciences

  • About
    • Visit Us
    • Virtual Tour
      • Kirkwood Observatory
      • Remote Observing Center
      • Rooftop Telescopes
      • Delaney Undergraduate Astronomy Lab (DUAL)
      • Tea Room SW 130
      • Swain West 119
      • Undergraduate Computer Cluster
      • Seminar Room
      • Swain West 208
    • Diversity & Inclusion
      • Diversity Resources
    • Code of Conduct
    • History
      • Theophilus Wylie
      • Daniel Kirkwood
      • Joseph Swain
      • First Observatory
      • Kirkwood Observatory
      • Frank K. Edmondson
      • Dr. Goethe Link and his Observatory
      • IU Asteroid Program
    • Alumni & Giving
  • Directory
    • Faculty
    • Adjunct Faculty
    • Emeriti Faculty
      • Archive
    • Research Associates & Postdocs
      • Past Research Associates & Postdocs
    • Graduate Students
      • Past Graduate Students
    • Staff
  • Undergraduate
    • Astronomy Club
    • Astronomy and Astrophysics B.A.
    • Astronomy and Astrophysics B.S.
    • Physics & Astronomy and Astrophysics B.S.
    • Astronomy and Astrophysics Minor
    • Courses
      • General Education Courses
      • Courses for Science Majors
      • Courses for Research Experience
    • Honors Program
    • Academic Advising
    • Research Opportunities
      • Alice Palma Summer Undergraduate Research Program
    • Financial Support
    • Student Experience
    • Career Preparation
      • Career Advising
  • Graduate
    • Admissions
    • Astronomy Ph.D.
    • Astrophysics Ph.D.
    • Astronomy M.A.
    • Astronomy Ph.D. Minor
    • Graduate Handbook
    • Courses
    • Research Areas
    • Graduate Experience
    • Recent Dissertations
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Previous Qualifying Exams
  • Research
    • Research Areas
      • Exoplanets
      • Stellar Astrophysics
      • Stellar Populations
      • Galaxies
      • Dynamics
    • Observatories
    • Computing Resources
    • Undergraduate Research
  • Outreach + Education
    • Kirkwood Observatory
      • Kirkwood History
      • Kirkwood Schedule
      • Kirkwood Virtual Tour
    • Kirkwood Solar Lab
    • Informal Science Education
    • Teaching Resources
      • Mini-Lab Activities
      • Web-Based Tools
      • Ethics
      • Writing
    • StarTrak
      • Star Trak Archive
    • Bicentennial Images
    • Solar Eclipse 2024
      • Solar Eclipse FAQs
  • News & Events
    • Departmental News
      • Archive
    • Highlights
    • Events
      • GLEAM 2023
        • Travel and Accommodations
        • Participant List
        • Program Schedule
        • Registration
    • Colloquium Schedule
      • Colloquium Archive
        • Schedule 2020-21
        • Schedule 2019-20
        • Schedule 2018-19
        • Schedule 2017-18
        • Schedule 2016-17
        • Schedule 2015-16
        • Schedule 2014-15
        • Schedule 2013-14
        • Schedule 2012-13
        • Schedule 2021-22
        • Schedule 2022-23
        • Schedule 2023-24
    • Tea Talk Schedule
      • Tea Talk Archive
        • 2022-23 Tea Talk Schedule
        • 2023-24 Tea Talk Schedule
    • Edmondson Lecture
    • Alumni News
  • Quick Links
  • Contact
  • Student Portal
    • Undergraduate
    • Graduate
    • Courses
      • Archive
        • Schedule 2021-22
        • Schedule 2020-21
        • Schedule 2019-20
        • Schedule 2018-19
        • Schedule 2017-18
        • Schedule 2016-17
        • Schedule 2015-16
        • Schedule 2014-15
        • Schedule 2013-14
        • Schedule 2012-13
        • Schedule 2011-12
        • Schedule 2010-11
        • Schedule 2022-23
        • Schedule 2023-24