We’re never *over* the Moon :

⁣But, we are pleased with the Moon sighting opportunities in March! ⁣

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This month, you’ll find Jupiter shining brightly in the west during the early evening hours all month long. And on March 13th, it’s joined by a crescent Moon so close that the pair will be visible together through binoculars.⁣

⁣On the following evening, the Moon visits the Pleiades, a star cluster visible to the unaided eye. This is another close pairing – with the five-day-old lunar crescent hanging right next to the bright star cluster – that will look great through a small telescope or binoculars.⁣

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Overnight on March 24th and into the 25th, the Moon will pass through the outer part of Earth’s shadow, creating a faint lunar eclipse called a penumbral eclipse. Now, the more spectacular variety of lunar eclipses happens when the Moon passes through Earth’s inner shadow, or umbra. That’s when we see a dark “bite” taken out of the Moon, or in the case of a total lunar eclipse, a reddish, so-called “blood moon.” Penumbral eclipses cause only a slight dimming of the Moon’s brightness, so if you’re not looking for it, you might not know there was an eclipse happening. But if you glance at the Moon early in the night, and then later, around the peak of the eclipse, you might notice the difference in brightness.⁣

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Image description: A crescent moon is visible in this view of Earth’s horizon and airglow, photographed by an Expedition 13 crewmember on the International Space Station. The lower half of the photo is brighter, as light reflects off of Earth’s atmosphere, layered with a bright blue airglow, the background fades into black where the Moon can be seen in the distance.⁣

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Credit: NASA ⁣

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#NASA #Moon #InternationalSpaceStation #Night #Sky #Astronaut #Photography #Space

[ INFORMATION DATA: 13 March 2024 ]