Observe the sky: March 2025

March begins with rains although it should also herald good weather. And that’s because during this month of March spring will arrive (vernal equinox on the 20th) and not only that, the time change will also occur (from the 29th to the 30th) to daylight saving time… the evenings begin to feel endless :) But without a doubt, the most striking thing this month will be the two eclipses we can enjoy: one lunar at dawn on March 14th, and one solar during the morning of March 29th. In addition, we have two observation outings planned for this month of March. The first will take place next Thursday, March 6th, from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm, and the next one on the 29th, from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm to enjoy the partial solar eclipse. Come on, without further ado, let’s get started.

Day	Time	Event
1	04:21	Moon in conjunction with Mercury, 0.33° S of Mercury
1	21:45	Moon at perigee (361975 km)
2	03:28	Moon in conjunction with Venus, 5.66° S of Venus
2	16:13	Mercury in conjunction with Neptune, 1.86° N of Neptune
2	18:17	Jupiter at quadrature
6	10:19	Moon in conjunction with Jupiter, 5.50° N of Jupiter
6	16:34	First Quarter
8	05:48	Mercury greatest eastern elongation (18.25°)
9	00:56	Moon in conjunction with Mars, 1.65° N of Mars
11	23:08	Mercury in conjunction with Venus, 5.57° S of Venus
12	10:10	Saturn at conjunction
14	06:57	Full Moon
17	16:44	Moon at apogee (405745 km)
19	23:12	Neptune at conjunction
20	08:44	Vernal Equinox
22	11:33	Last Quarter
23	01:22	Venus at inferior conjunction
24	19:46	Mercury at inferior conjunction
27	14:02	Venus in conjunction with Neptune, 9.21° N of Neptune
28	11:04	Moon in conjunction with Saturn, 1.64° N of Saturn
28	19:20	Moon in conjunction with Venus, 7.58° S of Venus
28	22:04	Moon in conjunction with Mercury, 2.04° S of Mercury
29	11:00	New Moon
30	02:53	Mercury in conjunction with Neptune, 3.36° N of Neptune
30	05:30	Moon at perigee (358179 km)

Table 1: Main astronomical events of the month of March. Local time.

Without a doubt, the two eclipses of March are the protagonists of this month of March, and the following graphics will help us understand the situation a little better. Throughout March, the Sun will gain more and more height over the horizon, rising earlier and setting later favoring increasingly milder temperatures. In addition, as we can see, on March 14th and 29th we will have the Moon in its full (100% illumination) and new (0% illumination) phases, respectively. But this month is special, after all we have full moons and new moons every month, something special must be happening this month of March. Well yes, and what is happening is that we have an almost perfect alignment between the Earth, the Moon and the Sun. The Earth’s orbit around the Sun describes a plane in space, as does the Moon’s orbit around the Earth. Both planes intersect each other in space along a line called the line of nodes. Well, what happens this month of March is that the Moon is close to said line of nodes, manifesting in the aforementioned alignment. Thus, on the 14th, the alignment will be of the type Sun-Earth-Moon, and the Earth will cast its shadow on the surface of the full Moon. On the contrary, on the 29th, the alignment will be of the type Sun-Moon-Earth, and a new moon will come between the Earth and the Sun, obscuring a percentage of it.

Sun during March 2025. — **Figure 1:** Variation of the Sun's position during the month of March. Left: Maximum daily elevation of the Sun during the month. Right: Position in the sky if observed every day at the same time (12.00 UT). In orange the positions of the Sun throughout March; in yellow, throughout the year (analemma).

Moon during March 2025. — **Figure 2:** Observability and illumination of the Moon during the month of March 2025. In red the time zone (universal time, UT; local time = UT + 1) during which you will be able to observe the Moon. The vertical white lines indicate the time of the Moon's passage through the local meridian.

Moon during March 2025 (II). — **Figure 3:** Phases and Moon orbit during March 2025.

The following graphics show what to expect, and at what time both eclipses will be observable from Granada:

Eclipse lunar del 14 de marzo de 2025 — **Figure 4:** Information about the observability of the lunar and solar eclipses that will take place this month of March (source: National Geographic Institute).

Eclipse solar del 29 de marzo de 2025 — **Figure 4:** Information about the observability of the lunar and solar eclipses that will take place this month of March (source: National Geographic Institute).

Setting aside these two great events, during March we continue partially with that planetary alignment that has been so commented on in the media during the months of January and February. However, Saturn will no longer be possible to observe, as well as Neptune. On the other hand, both Venus and Mercury will go from being observable in the sky just after sunset to being observable in the morning sky. Apart from this, Jupiter and Mars will continue to be the main protagonists of the planetary scene of the month of March.

Planets observability towards the beginning of March 2025 — **Figure 5:** Observability of the different planets of the Solar System from Granada in March 2025. In red, the time zone (universal time) during which you will be able to observe the different planets. The vertical white lines indicate the time of the passage of the various planets through the local meridian.

Planets observability towards the middle of March 2025 — **Figure 5:** Observability of the different planets of the Solar System from Granada in March 2025. In red, the time zone (universal time) during which you will be able to observe the different planets. The vertical white lines indicate the time of the passage of the various planets through the local meridian.

Planetary situation for the month of March 2025 in Granada. — **Figure 6:** Representation of the sky that will be observable at the end, beginning and middle of a typical March night from Granada (March 14th is chosen as representative). The positions of the planets as well as their motion relative to the fixed stellar background are indicated. For the planets with less apparent motion (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) a zoom is included for tracking with telescopes.

And continuing with Jupiter, here I am leaving you again the table (Jupiter table) in which I detail all the events that its Galilean moons will star in this month of March. In the coming days we can highlight the evenings/nights of the 4th and 29th (with Ganymede, Io and Europa with transits, occultations and shadows in abundance). For more information, please check the table, almost every night there are events worth mentioning.

Beyond the solar system, during this month of March we will be able to continue observing the winter sky, although as its name indicates, and given that the vernal equinox occurs this month (thus entering spring), this month we must start saying goodbye to constellations like Orion or Taurus. On the contrary, the typical spring sky is already beginning to be seen. A more austere sky, which stands out by looking perpendicular to the plane of the Milky Way. And of course, as with everything in life, this has its advantages and disadvantages. As a disadvantage, the naked eye sky will be uglier, dominated by weaker stars and lower stellar density. However, this also opens the doors to the observation of extragalactic objects. The Virgo galaxy cluster, the Coma region, or the galaxies of Leo will capture our attention during the coming months. But we will talk about this on other occasions.

The sky over Granada during the month of March 2025. — **Figure 7:** Representation of the sky that will be observable on a typical March night from Granada. The ecliptic is indicated (dashed line) as well as the main deep sky objects.

And finally, as usual, it is always worth dedicating a little time to search for the International Space Station (ISS), that orbital laboratory that teaches us so much. In the following link you can find a table (ISS table) with the main passes of the ISS visible from Granada. This month we highlight the passes of March 6th and 7th (with a magnitude close to -3.5, observable at dawn), the passes of the 11th and 12th (magnitude -3.5 and visible around ~21 or 20 respectively), or those of the 29th and 30th, especially the pass of the 29th, on which day, after enjoying the solar eclipse, the ISS will be visible with a magnitude of -3.9 around 20:49.

And with this we say goodbye. As you can see, we bring a month full of astronomical events and activities. Don’t forget that if the weather permits, we will be in the university hallways on March 6th and 29th, from 19:30 to 21:30 and from 10:30 to 12:30, respectively. Please remember that we are open to suggestions on our Telegram channel, where you can also stay up to date on activities, as well as receive timely alerts about easily observable astronomical events. Here is the link! We hope to see you soon at our activities.

Clear skies!