March 2019.
Lunar highlightName: Mare Nectaris
Meaning: Sea of Nectar Location: Eastward of the centre of the Moon.
Type: Lunar sea, a dark basaltic plain formed by massive volcanic eruptions.
Size: 360 km
Age: > 3.8 billion years
Best seen: Five days after New Moon, four days after Full Moon.
Notes: Named by ltalian astronomer Giovanni Riccioli (1651). Contains prominent crater Rosse, named after William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse.
Lunar occultation of Saturn and Titan
On the morning of March 29, the Moon will occult Saturn and its system of satellites. The table below gives the times of first contact (A - D) and last contact (E - H) of the rings (A, D, E, H) and planetary limb (B, C, F, G), with the Moon. The time of disappearance of Titan is also listed. The upper diagram shows the approximate configuration of the satellites Mimas (M), Dione (D), Enceladus (E), Tethys (T), Rhea (R) and Titan.
Bloem. Cape Town Durban Harare Jo'burg
A 05:57:02 05:49:12 06:10:31 06:13:56 05:59:38
B 05:57:37 05:49:44 06:11:07 06:14:26 06:00:13
C 05:58:32 05:50:42 06:12:04 06:15:30 06:01:08
D 05:59:06 05:51:14 06:12:39 06:16:01 06:01:42
E 07:35:15 07:07:13 07:46:27 07:52:06 07:43:12
F 07:35:45 07:07:39 07:46:55 07:52:46 07:43:46
G 07:36:41 07:08:40 07:47:50 07:53:51 07:44:41
H 07:37:12 07:09:06 07:48:18 07:54:31 07:45:14
T 06:07:03 05:58:42 06:20:54 06:23:44 06:09:38
Caption: March 01-05 before sunrise
Caption: March 22-31 before sunrise
Caption: March 10-13 after sunset
Caption: March 01-31 morning sky
Celestial almanac
d Event
01 Saturn near the Moon (occultation seen
from most of Micronesia, northern Polynesia
(except Hawaii), central America, and southern
North America)
Moon furthest south (-21.6[degrees])
02 Pluto near the Moon (occultation seen from
north-east Africa, south-west Europe, Middle
East, India, and most of south and east Asia,
China and Mongolia)
Moon at descending node (13:03)
03 Venus near the Moon
04 Moon at apogee (13:27, 406 390 km)
Titan at maximum separation from Saturn
05 Mercury stationary
Titan at maximum separation from Saturn
Pallas stationary
06 New Moon (18:04)
Neptune near the Moon
Callisto at maximum separation from Jupiter
07 Mercury at greatest latitude north
Titan at maximum separation from Saturn
Neptune at conjunction
Vesta at conjuction
08 Callisto at maximum separation from Jupiter
10 Uranus near the Moon
11 Mars near the Moon
13 Aldebaran near the Moon
Lunar X feature forms (17:26)
Titan at maximum separation from Saturn
gamma Normid meteor shower at maximum
14 First Quarter Moon (12:27)
Venus at descending node.
Callisto at maximum separation from Jupiter
Titan at maximum separation from Saturn
15 Last day of school term 1
Moon furthest north (+ 21.8[degrees])
Mercury at inferior conjunction
16 Moon at ascending node (18:22)
Callisto at maximum separation from Jupiter
19 Moon at perigee (21:48, 359 380 km)
Regulus near the Moon
20 Equinox (23:58)
21 Human Rights Day
21 Full Moon (03:43)
Titan at maximum separation from Saturn
23 World Meteorological Day
Callisto at maximum separation from Jupiter
24 Earth Hour
Callisto at maximum separation from Jupiter
25 Mercury near Neptune
27 Jupiter near the Moon
Mercury stationary
28 Last Quarter Moon (06:10)
Moon furthest south (-21.9[degrees])
Titan at maximum separation from Saturn
29 Saturn near the Moon (occultation seen
from eastern edge of Brazil, southern Africa,
Madagascar, southern tip of India, and Sri
Lanka)
Pluto near the Moon (occultation seen from
western and southern Mexico, central America,
northern half of South America, Madeira, Cape
Verde Islands, and the western edge of Africa)
Moon at descending node (15:08)
Titan at maximum separation from Saturn
30 Mercury at descending node
Titan at maximum separation from Saturn
31 Nominations due for ASSA awards
Callisto at maximum separation from Jupiter
Planet visibility
Mercury can be seen in the evening sky at the
beginning of the month, and at dawn late in
the month. Venus is prominent in the morning
sky throughout March. Mars can be seen in the
evening sky. Jupiter can be seen in the morning
sky, and by mid-month can be seen for more than
half the night. Saturn can be seen in the morning
sky for the entire month.
Occultation of Saturn
The Moon occults Saturn on the morning of March
29. Predicted times are given on p 19.
Sun rise and set, position and distance
d Bloem. Cape Town Durban Harare
rise set rise set rise set rise set
01 06:06 18:48 06:34 19:23 05:47 18:30 05:55 18:22
04 06:08 18:45 06:36 19:19 05:49 18:26 05:56 18:19
07 06:10 18:42 06:39 19:15 05:51 18:23 05:57 18:17
10 06:12 18:38 06:41 19:11 05:53 18:19 05:57 18:15
13 06:14 18:35 06:43 19:07 05:55 18:16 05:58 18:13
16 06:16 18:31 06:46 19:03 05:57 18:12 05:59 18:10
19 06:18 18:28 06:48 18:59 05:59 18:09 06:00 18:08
22 06:19 18:24 06:50 18:55 06:00 18:05 06:00 18:06
25 06:21 18:21 06:53 18:51 06:02 18:02 06:01 18:03
28 06:23 18:17 06:55 18:47 06:04 17:58 06:01 18:01
31 06:25 18:14 06:57 18:43 06:06 17:54 06:02 17:58
d Jo'burg Declination Con Distance
at 02:00 (AU)
rise set
01 06:01 18:39 -07[degrees] 52' 37.5 * Aqr 0.990677
04 06:03 18:36 -06 44 00.0 Aqr 0.991425
07 06:04 18:33 -05 34 31.0 Aqr 0.992186
10 06:06 18:30 -04 24 21.2 Aqr 0.992957
13 06:08 18:27 -03 13 41.6 Psc 0.993738
16 06:09 18:23 -02 02 42.8 Psc 0.994531
19 06:11 18:20 -00 51 35.2 Psc 0.995342
22 06:12 18:17 +00 19 31.7 Psc 0.996178
25 06:13 18:14 +01 30 28.7 Psc 0.997036
28 06:15 18:10 +02 41 06.7 Psc 0.997908
31 06:16 18:07 +03 51 16.4 Psc 0.998786
Con = constellation (see Table 11 on p 89), Distance = Sun-Earth
distance in AU. Also see rise/set times on pp 72-73.
Moon rise and set
d Bloem. Cape Town Durban Harare
rise set rise set rise set rise set
01 01:26 15:34 01:47 16:17 01:05 15:16 01:29 14:52
02 02:16 16:20 02:37 17:03 01:55 16:02 02:19 15:39
03 03:08 17:03 03:29 17:45 02:46 16:45 03:09 16:24
04 04:00 17:42 04:23 18:22 03:39 17:24 03:58 17:06
05 04:53 18:19 05:17 18:57 04:32 18:00 04:48 17:46
06 05:45 18:52 06:12 19:29 05:25 18:34 05:37 18:24
07 06:38 19:25 07:07 19:59 06:18 19:06 06:25 19:01
08 07:33 19:58 08:04 20:30 07:11 19:37 07:14 19:37
09 08:26 20:30 08:59 21:00 08:06 20:10 08:04 20:15
10 09:20 21:04 09:56 21:31 09:01 20:44 08:54 20:53
11 10:16 21:40 10:53 22:05 09:57 21:19 09:45 21:33
12 11:13 22:20 11:53 22:43 10:54 21:59 10:38 22:17
13 12:12 23:05 12:54 23:27 11:54 22:43 11:33 23:05
14 13:12 23:55 13:55 -:- 12:54 23:34 12:31 23:58
15 14:12 -:- 14:56 00:16 13:54 -:- 13:29 -:-
16 15:10 00:52 15:53 01:13 14:52 00:31 14:28 00:55
17 16:05 01:55 16:47 02:16 15:46 01:33 15:25 01:56
18 16:55 03:01 17:35 03:24 16:37 02:40 16:19 03:00
19 17:41 04:10 18:19 04:35 17:23 03:49 17:10 04:04
20 18:24 05:19 18:59 05:46 18:05 04:58 17:58 05:08
21 19:05 06:26 19:37 06:57 18:45 06:06 18:44 06:10
22 19:44 07:32 20:14 08:06 19:24 07:13 19:29 07:11
23 20:24 08:37 20:51 09:13 20:04 08:18 20:14 08:10
24 21:05 09:40 21:29 10:19 20:44 09:21 21:00 09:08
25 21:47 10:42 22:10 11:22 21:26 10:23 21:46 10:05
26 22:33 11:41 22:54 12:23 22:11 11:22 22:34 11:01
27 23:20 12:37 23:41 13:20 22:59 12:19 23:23 11:55
28 -:- 13:29 -:- 14:13 23:49 13:11 -:- 12:47
29 00:10 14:18 00:31 15:01 -:- 14:00 00:13 13:36
30 01:02 15:02 01:23 15:44 00:40 14:44 01:03 14:22
31 01:54 15:42 02:16 16:23 01:33 15:24 01:54 15:05
d Jo'burg
rise set
01 01:25 15:20
02 02:15 16:07
03 03:06 16:50
04 03:57 17:30
05 04:49 18:07
06 05:41 18:43
07 06:32 19:16
08 07:26 19:50
09 08:18 20:24
10 09:11 20:59
11 10:05 21:36
12 11:01 22:17
13 11:59 23:03
14 12:58 23:54
15 13:58 -:-
16 14:56 00:51
17 15:51 01:53
18 16:43 02:59
19 17:31 04:06
20 18:15 05:13
21 18:57 06:19
22 19:38 07:24
23 20:19 08:27
24 21:01 09:29
25 21:45 10:29
26 22:31 11:28
27 23:19 12:23
28 -:- 13:15
29 00:09 14:04
30 01:00 14:49
31 01:52 15:30
For Port Elizabeth subtract 28m from Cape Town; for Bulawayo
add 9m to Harare.
Jupiter's Galilean moons
d Time Event
04 02:26.7 Europa's shadow transit starts
03:04.0 Ganymede transit starts
04:37.8 Io is eclipsed
04:48.0 Europa's shadow transit ends
04:52.8 Europa transit starts
05:14.6 Ganymede transit ends
05 01:50.6 Io's shadow transit starts
03:05.3 Io transit starts
04:01.5 Io's shadow transit ends
05:16.6 Io transit ends
06 01:55.5 Europa reappears from occultation
02:32.5 Io reappears from occultation
11 01:59.1 Ganymede's shadow transit starts
04:06.0 Ganymede's shadow transit ends
04:59.5 Europa's shadow transit starts
12 03:44.1 Io's shadow transit starts
04:59.8 Io transit starts
05:55.1 Io's shadow transit ends
13 00:59.0 Io is eclipsed
01:55.6 Europa reappears from eclipse
02:06.3 Europa is occulted
04:26.2 Io reappears from occultation
04:33.2 Europa reappears from occultation
14 00:23.6 Io's shadow transit ends
01:39.6 Io transit ends
23:30.2 Ganymede reappears (occulted)
18 05:56.3 Ganymede's shadow transit starts
19 05:37.7 Io's shadow transit starts
20 02:06.8 Europa is eclipsed
02:51.8 Io is eclipsed
04:31.7 Europa reappears from eclipse
20 04:41.8 Europa is occulted
06:19.0 Io reappears from occultation
21 00:06.1 Io's shadow transit starts
01:21.6 Io transit starts
02:17.2 Io's shadow transit ends
03:32.9 Io transit ends
23:10.6 Europa's shadow transit ends
23:16.3 Europa transit starts
22 00:47.0 Io reappears from occultation
01:12.5 Ganymede is occulted
01:40.1 Europa transit ends
03:26.0 Ganymede reappears (occulted)
27 04:42.6 Europa is eclipsed
04:44.7 Io is eclipsed
28 01:59.6 Io's shadow transit starts
03:13.8 Io transit starts
04:10.8 Io's shadow transit ends
05:25.2 Io transit ends
23:13.0 Io is eclipsed
23:21.3 Europa's shadow transit starts
29 00:03.7 Ganymede is eclipsed
01:43.6 Europa's shadow transit ends
01:46.3 Europa transit starts
02:15.7 Ganymede reappears from eclipse
02:38.5 Io reappears from occultation
04:10.2 Europa transit ends
05:03.7 Ganymede is occulted
22:39.2 Io's shadow transit ends
23:53.1 Io transit ends
30 22:57.8 Europa reappears from occultation
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| Title Annotation: | Mare Nectaris, Saturn and Titan |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Sky Guide Africa South |
| Date: | Jan 1, 2019 |
| Words: | 2291 |
| Previous Article: | Star charts for summer: December 01 at 00:00, January 01 at 22:00, and February 01 at 20:00. |
| Next Article: | April 2019. |
| Topics: | |