M, M, and M

Moon, Mars, and the rich star cluster Messier 35 form a group this evening.

See the end note about enlarging illustrations.

Actually the tightest grouping of the three bodies, when the flying Moon passes distant planet and the deep-sky cluster, is about 14 hours earlier than our sky scene: 14h Universal Time, which is in daylight for America and Europe. I’ve set the scene late enough that the sky is dark (and the picture more compact).

The Moon will be at its first-quarter position on March 29 at 2:32 UT. As always, when at first quarter it is near the “antapex of Earth’s Way” because it is crossing over our orbit behind us.

The arrow through Mars shows its motion over 5 days (in relation to the starry background). It will be closest to M35 early on March 30.

Meanwhile, two other planets are in the evening sky: Mercury passing close to Jupiter. But they are only 11° from the Sun, thus below the horizon.

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This weblog maintains its right to be about astronomy or anything under the sun.

ILLUSTRATIONS in these posts are made with precision but have to be inserted in another format.  You may be able to enlarge them on your monitor.  One way: right-click, and choose “View image” or “Open image in new tab”, then enlarge.  Or choose “Copy image”, then put it on your desktop, then open it.  On an iPad or phone, use the finger gesture that enlarges (spreading with two fingers, or tapping and dragging with three fingers).  Other methods have been suggested, such as dragging the image to the desktop and opening it in other ways.