AstroCal – March 2025
With a couple of notable Lunar events taking place in March, let us start this AstroCal by focusing on our neighbor. The Full Moon will take place on March 14 and bears the curious name of The Worm Moon. It is so named because this month, “the earthworms start to appear in the soil which finally warms up after the cold winter season.” With our location along the south shore of Lake Superior (for those of us living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan), you will full understand why the preceding explanation has been italicised. Our earthworm population and the robins they attract as a harbinger of spring usually don’t make their appearance until sometime in April. It all depends on how fast the warmer weather arrives and how long it takes the accumulated snow mass to melt.
Other cultures use various names to describe the same Full Moon, among them: Sleepy Moon (Chinese), Moon of Winds (Celtic), Chaste Moon (Wicca), Windy Moon (Cherokee) and the Harvest or Corn Moon in the Southern Hemisphere (who will be entering their Fall season).
The term Blood Moon can also be applied this March as there will be a Total Lunar Eclipse that will cause the Full Moon to appear deep red in color for about an hour between 1 a.m and 3 a.m. EDT on March 14. This will be the last Blood Moon visible for all of North America until 2048. With this Full Moon taking place at apogee, the point in the Moon’s orbit farthest away from the Earth, it will appear 5.4 percent smaller than an average Full Moon. In this case, it will be known as a ‘micromoon’. Look for the New Crescent Moon low in the wester sky on March 1 at the same time it will be at Perigee (224,914 miles from Earth). The First Quarter Moon will take place on March 6, the Last Quarter Moon on March 22 and the Moon will be at Apogee on March 30..
The New Moon of March 29th will also see a deep partial solar eclipse during which 94 percent of the sun will be covered by the Moon. This should be partially visible in the Northeastern United States. The Lunar and Solar eclipses mark the beginning of what is known as ‘eclipse season’. The Moon’s orbit is tilted in relation to the Earth / Sun plane. As a result, the only two times of the year eclipses can happen are when the plane of the Moon’s orbit crosses the Earth / Sun plane. This tilt also regulates when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are in the proper alignment for a Solar Eclipse.
March planetary viewing will still be dominated by Venus. Low in the SW sky after sunset and shining at Mag -4.1, it will be the second brightest object in the night sky after the Full Moon (mag -10.2). Venus begins the month at a 14 percent phase and this will drop to 5 percent as it approaches inferior conjunction on March 22. At this time, Venus will be just 8.4 degrees north of the Sun. Our viewing challenge for March 20 is to see if you can see Venus very low in the eastern sky just prior to sunrise and very low in the western sky after sun set.
Jupiter continues to shine brightly in Taurus, the Bull while Mars can be seen 35 degrees east of Jupiter in Gemini, the Twins. Mars will pass just 4 degrees of Pollux on March 30. Look for Mercury low in the western sky in the first two weeks of the month. Saturn will not be visible when our view crosses the Ring Plane as it will be too near the Sun for us to see it. The last crossing took place in 2009 and the next one will occur in 2038-2039.
Other notable events for March will include the Vernal (or Spring) Equinox on at 5:01 EDT on March 20 and conjunctions for several planets. These include Saturn (Mar 12), Neptune (Mar 19), Venus (Mar 22), and Mercury (Mar 24). Our last challenge for the month will be to see if you can spot the very Young Crescent Moon low in the western sky on March 30 just after sunset. q`
Compiled by Ken Raisanen of WOAS-FM 91.5 – information provided by Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar, Michigan State University. More information and subscription information can be found on their website at http://abramsplanetarium.org/skycalendar/. Yearly subscriptions cost $12 and can be started anytime. Comments and questions can be emailed to kraisanen@oasd.k12.mi.us
Top Piece Video – As long as we are talkin lunar events – we will let Cat sing about his Moon Shadow . . .