* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: March 2011

Blobrana · L

Last Quarter moon at 12:07.3 GMT, 26th March, 2011.
This last quarter moon is the second lowest, (Dec. -22.61°), of this year, and the third lowest of this decade.

Blobrana · L

Mercury is at its Greatest Eastern Elongation (18.6° East, magnitude -0.1) at 1:10 GMT, 23rd March, 2011.

Blobrana · L

Saturday 'supermoon' nothing to fear

On Saturday night, the Moon will be closer to Earth than it has been in 19 years, but it won't look much different - and it certainly won't cause an apocalypse.
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Blobrana · L

Super Full Moon
Mark your calendar. On March 19th, a full Moon of rare size and beauty will rise in the east at sunset. It's a super "perigee moon"--the biggest in almost 20 years.
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Blobrana · L

Jupiter reaches perihelion (closest approach to he Sun) on the 17th March, 2011.
The last planetary perihelion was in 1999 - Jupiter takes 12 years to orbit the sun.

Blobrana · L

Mercury is close to Jupiter in the evening sky at ~18:15 local time, 16th March, 2011.

Blobrana · L

On St. Patrick's Day, for the first time, a small NASA spacecraft called Messenger will enter into Mercury's orbit, circling at times as close as 125 miles from the planet's surface. And by coincidence, a few days before that will be the best time all year for people on Earth to see Mercury with the naked eye.
Barely bigger than our moon but much more distant, Mercury is not easy to see without a telescope. An odd pairing with giant Jupiter will make it easier to spot starting Sunday - probably the best opportunity for a year
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Blobrana · L

Don't look now, but our winter skies are departing and spring skies are arriving. So if you haven't seen all of the great winter sky wonders, you need to hurry. Taurus, The Bull is almost over the western horizon.
Jupiter appears in the western sky just as the Sun sets; but is pretty much gone by 10 p.m. Orion now appears right overhead at sunset and quickly works its way westward. He too will be gone in a few short weeks.
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Blobrana · L

The moon will appear bigger next weekend as it makes its closest approach to earth for 19 years during an event known as a "lunar perigee".
On March 19 the moon will reach a distance of just 221,567 miles from Earth - the nearest it will have come since 1992.
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