March 2013 Equinox

HERE An Equinox is an astronomical event that happens twice, once in spring and once in autumn, each year when the tilt of the Earth’s axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun. During Equinoxes the tilt of the Earth (with respect to the Sun) is 0° and because of it duration of the day and the night are almost equal on Equinox day i.e. 12 hours.

To avoid any confusion Equinoxes are preferably referred as March Equinox (Northern Equinox) and September Equinox (Southern Equinox).

• March 10 – Comet Pan-STARRS Closest Approach to the Sun. Newly discovered comet Pan-STARRS will make its closest approach to the Sun on March 10. The comet will start to be visible in the morning sky in early February in the Southern Hemisphere. It will gradually increase in brightness until its encounter with the Sun on March 10. By this time it will be visible in the evening sky in the Northern Hemisphere. It can be seen just to the left of the setting sun. It will continue to be visible in the evening sky for the rest of March and into early April.

• March 11 – New Moon. The Moon will be directly between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from Earth. This phase occurs at 19:51 UTC. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

• March 17 – Conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter. The Moon will pass about one and a half degrees of the giant planet Jupiter in the evening sky. The first quarter moon will be at magnitude -11.4 and Jupiter will be at magnitude -2.2. Look for both objects in the west after sunset. The pair will be visible in the evening sky for about 5 hours after sunset.

• March 20 – March Equinox. The March equinox occurs at 11:02 UTC. The Sun will shine directly on the equator and there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world. This is also the first day of spring (vernal equinox) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of fall (autumnal equinox) in the Southern Hemisphere.

• March 27 – Full Moon. The Moon will be directly opposite the Earth from the Sun and will be fully illuminated as seen from Earth. This phase occurs at 09:27 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Worm Moon because this was the time of year when the ground would begin to soften and the earthworms would reappear. This moon has also been known as the Full Crow Moon, the Full Crust Moon, and the Full Sap Moon.