Space and Astronomy







Phases Of The Moon




New Moon

First Quarter

Full Moon

Last Quarter

Sunday March 10
1:00 a.m.

Saturday March 16
9:11 p.m.

Monday March 25
12:00 a.m.

Sunday March 3
7:23 a.m.






The Planets and Special Events



The Vernal Equinox occurs on Tuesday March 19 at 8:06 p.m. At this precise moment the Sun crosses the "Ceestial Equator" from the South to the North. This signals the beginning of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere.



Venus (Mag 3.9) rises in the Southeast at 5:17 a.m. on the 1st.

Jupiter (Mag -2.1) sets in the West at 10:32 p.m. on the 1st.

Mars (Mag +1.3) rises in the Southeast at 5:06 a.m. on the 1st.

Saturn (Mag +1.0) starts the month cose to the sun and is not observable. Saturn rises in the East at 6:31 a.m. on the 16th.



Reprinted with permission, the information above is made available in the Griffith Observer , a monthly publication by the Griffith Observatory. For complete information on the Planets and other items related to Astronomy, please visit the Griffith Observatory Web Site.






Fun Facts


When you hear somebody talk about a celestial object being 30° (or 30 degrees) above the horizon, how in the world do you know how far up that is ? Well, hold your hand out at arms length with your thumb and fingers together, the palm of your hand facing you with the sky behind it. The distance from the edge of the little finger on the bottom of your palm to the edge of your thumb on the top is about 10° (10 degrees). Two palm widths is 20°, three is 30° and so on.

The theory that our Sun is the center of the universe and our planets revolve around it was first documented by Nicolas Copernicus. The interesting thing is that Copernicus was a Catholic Priest and Philosopher, not an Astronomer. But he believed that God would have made the movements of the planets more simple than the previously documented theory (which was very complex). As we know today, Corpernicus was right !


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