Each Monday, I pick out North America’s celestial highlights for the week ahead (which also apply to mid-northern latitudes in the northern hemisphere), but be sure to check my main feed for more in-depth articles on stargazing, astronomy, eclipses and more.
The Night Sky This Week: March 25-31, 2024
America is living through a golden age of eclipses, but what happens early on Monday morning this week is a prelude to next week’s big event. In the early hours of Monday, March 25, the full worm moon will be eclipsed by Earth, but this will only be a slight penumbral lunar eclipse—not a full “blood moon” total lunar eclipse.
However, it’s a critical moment for North America because the moving of the full moon through Earth’s shadow will put it in precisely the right trajectory to cause a total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024. If you don’t want to miss that (trust me, you do not!), there are some planning tips are below.
Elsewhere in the night sky this week you can see the waning gibbous moon pass close to a couple of bright stars as it rises later and later at night, leaving the early evening skies perfect for stargazing by the weekend.
Here’s everything you need to know about stargazing and astronomy this week:
Monday, March 25: ‘Worm Moon Lunar Eclipse’
The third full moon of 2024 and the first of spring in the northern hemisphere, the “Worm Moon”—also known as the “Crow Moon” and the “Lenten Moon”—will move through the Earth’s outer shadow in space. A slight penumbral lunar eclipse will result for the night side of Earth, including North and South America, Europe, East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
In New York, the moon will begin to be eclipsed from 00:53 a.m. EDT until 05:32 a.m. EDT on Monday, March 25, with a maximum eclipse at 03:12 a.m. EDT. In Los Angeles, the moon will be eclipsed from 9:53 p.m. PDT until 02:32 a.m. PDT on Sunday, March 24/Monday, March 25, with maximum eclipse at 00:12 a.m. EDT.
Tuesday, March 26: Moon And Spica
Be outside a few hours after sunset, and you will see the almost full moon rising due east. However, there will be something unusual about this moonrise. Just to the top right of the rising moon, you will see the bright star Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo and one of the 20 brightest stars in the night sky. It will be within 1.4 degrees of our natural satellite.
Saturday, March 30: Moon And Antares
If you are up late on Friday into the early hours of Saturday, look to the southeast, and you will see a 78%-lit waning gibbous moon less than a degree from Antares, a red supergiant star in the constellation Scorpius.
Galaxies Of The Week: Bode’s And The Cigar
Ursa Minor and Ursa Major—visible in the northern sky after dark this week—are home to two galaxies that look stunning in an 8-inch telescope.
M81 (Bode’s galaxy) is a large spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years from Earth and is one of the brightest galaxies in the night sky while M82 (the Cigar galaxy) is a starburst galaxy also about 12 million light-years from Earth and is known for its high star formation rate. Its stars can be glimpsed in a telescope’s same field of view as small, diffuse patches of light northwest of bright star Dubhe in the Big Dipper.
Eclipse Tip Of The Week: Preparing For The Total Solar Eclipse
It’s less than two weeks until that rarest and most beautiful celestial occurrences visit North America—a total solar eclipse. If you are yet to make a solid plan, act now. Just remember: you must get into the path of totality (the yellow stripe on the map above)—merely getting close to it makes zero practical difference. Have a look at the plethora of articles on my own feed, about where to stay and where to see the eclipse, or visit some of these websites, which provide maps, simulations and events listings:
The times and dates given apply to mid-northern latitudes. For the most accurate location-specific information, consult online planetariums like Stellarium and The Sky Live. Check planet-rise/planet-set, sunrise/sunset and moonrise/moonset times for where you are.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
