What’s Up in the Night Sky – March 2026
from In-The-Sky.org
Moon Phases
Full – March 3 – Full Worm Moon
Last Quarter – March 11
New Moon – March 18
First Quarter – March 25
Close Encounters
March 2: Regulus and the Moon are nearing conjunction as the early morning Sun begins to rise.
March 3: A total lunar eclipse takes place in the early morning. Totality runs from 5:05am through 6:03am. The Moon sets before the partial phase ends. Have a good western horizon to get the most of the event. No clouds will also help.
March 7: Venus and Neptune are less than 4.5 arcminutes apart in the evening twilight sky. They fit in the field of view of a telescope but Neptune will be washed out by the bright Sun only 14° away.
March 8: Venus and Saturn are in conjunction, separated by only 1 degree. The Sun washes out the view as it is still above the horizon at their closest approach.
March 8, 2am: Daylight Savings Time begins. Spring forward one hour.
March 10: The Moon passes below Antares for a close conjunction in the early morning hours. The Moon occults Antares for parts of Antarctica and New Zealand.
March 12/13: The Moon and Sigma Sagittarii (Nunki) have a close conjunction around local Midnight.
March 14: Mars and Mercury have a conjunction in the brightening morning sky. Mars passes about 4° below Mercury. This will be difficult to see as they are both about 14° from the Sun.
March 20: The March Equinox takes place at 9:48AM CDT. Days become longer than night until the Summer Solstice on June 21st.
March 23: The Moon and the Pleiades have a close approach in the early morning western sky before sunrise.
March 25: Saturn is at solar conjunction, on the far side of the Sun from our vantage point. This ends the current apparition and begins the next.
March 26: The Moon and Jupiter are in conjunction, separated by nearly 4 degrees.
March 27: Mercury is at its highest altitude in the morning sky for this apparition. At 11° above the Sun it will be difficult to observe.
March 29: The Moon and Regulus have a close conjunction in the evening eastern sky. Regulus will be occulted over portions of India, the Middle East, northern Africa, and Europe.
Major Meteor Showers – from https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/
The next major meteor showers are the Lyrids and the eta Aquariids which begin activities in mid-April.
Planet Watch for March 15, 2026
Mercury recently passed behind the Sun and will be a morning object in a week or so.
Venus is about 10 degrees low in the western sky after sunset. Observe as Venus continues to rise in the evening sky until its maximum altitude in early June.
Mars is lost in the Sun’s glare as it passed superior conjunction on January 9, 2026. Mars’ next opposition is February 19, 2027.
Jupiter is high in the eastern sky as the Sun sets and is observable until around 3am. Jupiter is still bright at magnitude -2.4 and continues to accompany nearby Castor and Pollux in Gemini.
Saturn is faintly visible in the southwest after sunset and is only 9° separated from the Sun.
Uranus is an early evening object in the southwestern sky. It sets around midnight local time. Uranus shines faintly at magnitude 5.8 in Taurus.
Neptune is not observable as it is only 7° from the Sun. It reaches superior conjunction on March 22, 2026.
