Saturn joins Venus and Mars this month in the early morning sky. Starting around March 18 or 19th, early birds may see Saturn steadily approaching Mars and Venus each day, to form a trio low in the east before sunrise. The crescent moon joins the crowd on the 27th and 28th. Saturn and Mars are headed towards a super-close meeting at the start of April. (More about that in next months video.).
See Saturn, Venus, and Mars in the pre-dawn sky in March, with Saturn becoming more noticeable after around March 18th or 19th. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Look high in the southwest on March evenings, and youll discover the high, Y-shaped constellation Taurus, the bull. And at the center of Taurus, forming the bulls face, is a grouping of stars called the Hyades star cluster. Its the closest open star cluster to our solar system, including numerous stars.
Discover Y-shaped Taurus high in the southwest in the very first few hours after dark, with brilliant Aldebaran assisting your eye to the Hyades star cluster. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Now, an open cluster is a group of stars that are close together in area and loosely bound together by their shared gravity. These are stars that formed together around the same time, from the same cloud of dust and gas. In time they blow away that leftover nebula material and drift apart. Due to the fact that of this and their open, or diffuse, structures, theyre called “open” clusters. Our own Sun formed in a cluster like this, and studying these structures helps us understand how stars develop and form.
Another popular open cluster is the Pleiades, which is also found in Taurus. The Hyades and the Pleiades are in fact about the same size, at about 15 approximately light-years throughout. The Pleiades is about 3 times further away, so it appears more compact.
You do not require a telescope to discover the Hyades. Search for this V-shaped grouping of stars in Taurus. Utilize the stars of Orions belt as an useful tip, leading you to bright orange Aldebaran. (Aldebaran isnt really part of the star cluster. Its situated midway to the Hyades, and just takes place to be visible in the foreground.).
Check out the Hyades in March, where youll see a handful of stars with the unaided eye, and more than a hundred with field glasses.
March skies consist of several easy-to-find, bright stars that are understood to have planets of their own orbiting around them. Find these remote “suns” on your own and youll understand youre peering directly at another planetary system.
Is Epsilon Tauri, the right eye of Taurus the bull. This orange dwarf star has a gas giant planet around 8 times the mass of Jupiter. Next is 7 Canis Majoris. This is the star at the heart of the pet dog constellation which contains blazing intense Sirius. This star is understood to have two planets: a gas giant nearly two times the mass of Jupiter and another simply a little smaller than Jupiter.
The constellation Canis Major consists of a star– 7 Canis Majoris– understood to have at least two planets. Credit: NASA/Bill Dunford.
Moving on, we discover Tau Geminorum, the star at the heart of Castor– northern most of the twins in Gemini. Tau Geminorum has a huge gas giant world 20 times the mass of Jupiter in an orbit just a little larger than that of Earth. And finally, wheeling around to the north, is Beta Ursae Minoris, the brightest star in the bowl of the Little Dipper. This star has a 6-Jupiter-mass planet in orbit around it.
Researchers expect that many stars have a household of planets orbiting them, because forming worlds is a natural part of forming stars. And now you know how to find a few of them yourself, no telescope required.
And at the center of Taurus, forming the bulls face, is a grouping of stars known as the Hyades star cluster. Its the closest open star cluster to our solar system, including hundreds of stars.
Now, an open cluster is a group of stars that are close together in space and loosely bound together by their mutual gravity. Our own Sun formed in a cluster like this, and studying these structures helps us understand how stars form and evolve.
(Aldebaran isnt actually part of the star cluster.
Artists rendering of a Jupiter-sized exoplanet and its host star. Credit: ESO
Whats Up for March? Fulfill the morning worlds, the nearby star cluster, and some do-it-yourself exoplanets.