On March 24, people around Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Malaysia saw the moon occult – or pass in front of – the planet Venus. See a photo gallery of some of our favorite moon-Venus occultation photos.
Thank you to all who submit images to EarthSky Community Photos! View community photos here. We love you all. Submit your photo here.
Last chance to get a moon phase calendar! Only a few left
Looking for a dark sky? Check out EarthSky’s Best Places to Stargaze
Visible planets (evening, in text)
Visible planets (morning, in text)
March 27-28 evening: Mercury-Jupiter conjunction
March 28 and 29 evenings: Moon near Mars, Castor and Pollux
The instant of 1st quarter moon is 2:32 UTC on March 29 (9:32 p.m. CDT on March 28)
March 30 evening: Moon near the Beehive
March 30 evening: Binocular view of the moon and the Beehive
Visible planets (evening, March 2023, in text)
Venus, the brightest planet, is climbing higher in the west after sunset each night. And – wowsers! – it’s very close to the 2nd-brightest planet, Jupiter, the first day of March. Indeed, they’ll be super noticeable … ready to dazzle you! In fact, they’ll remain close all week. Jupiter spends the rest of the month descending further into the sunset glare and then sinks out of view later in the month. So, enjoy watching these two bright worlds in the western twilight. Also, don’t miss them near the waxing crescent moon, when it visits Jupiter on March 22 and Venus on March 23 and 24. In addition, Jupiter pairs up with bright Mercury on March 27.
Mars, meanwhile, is well placed in the evening sky, noticeably red in color, setting a few hours after midnight. By month’s end, Mars will blend in with the other 1st-magnitude stars, as it shrinks and fades after its recent opposition on December 8, 2022. Earth flew between Mars and the sun in December. Now Earth is fleeing ahead of Mars in our smaller, faster orbit around the sun. And as a result, Mars is fading day by day. Later, the moon will sweep past Mars on March 28.
Mercury returns to the evening sky at month’s end and passes close to Jupiter on March 27.
Visible planets (morning, March 2023, in text)
Saturn is emerging in the morning sky by mid-month but still close to the sun, so it may be difficult to find until later in March.
Also, people often ask if our charts apply to them. Yes, if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere. Not as precisely, however, if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere. Our charts are mostly set for the northern half of Earth. To see a precise view from your location, try the free online planetarium program at Stellarium-Web.org.
Sky dome maps for visible planets and night sky
The sky dome maps come from master astronomy chart-maker Guy Ottewell. You’ll find charts like these for every month of 2023 in his Astronomical Calendar. Guy explains:
The sky dome map for each month shows what is above the horizon at a convenient (local) evening time for latitude 40 degrees north. If you travel north, stars at the south edge of the map disappear; at the north edge others spend more time above the horizon.
You can see the relation between the map and sky by holding the map over your face. The central point of the map is the overhead point, or zenith. Orient the map so the direction you are facing (east, west, north or south) is at the bottom.
Stars are shown down to magnitude 5.5, so you might require a dark sky to see some of the dimmer stars shown or the Milky Way. Also, the map only shows the more conspicuous constellations.
Planets are shown on the 16th of the month in the mid-evening sky, with symbols sized for brightness like the stars. All planets are visible to the unaided eye except Neptune. Furthermore, planets in the sky after midnight and in the twilight sky near sunset or sunrise will not appear on the sky dome maps.
The moon is shown (exaggerated 8 times in size) at 0 UTC on the days when it is at first quarter and full phases. This is 7 p.m EST on the previous day. It is also in its geocentric position, that is, without parallax; as seen from northern latitudes, it is slightly farther south.
Major meteor showers are indicated by bursts of lines pointing out from their radiant. But some are not shown, because their radiants are not in view at map time.
The ecliptic is drawn as a thick curve. It marks the plane in which the Earth revolves around the sun.
The celestial equator curves from the east point to the west point of each map. At declination 0, it is the only line of declination shown. Ticks along it are at the 24 hours of right ascension.
Heliocentric solar system planets
The sun-centered charts come from Guy Ottewell. You’ll find charts like these for every month of 2023 here, in his Astronomical Calendar. Guy Ottewell explains:
In these views from ecliptic north, arrows (thinner when south of the ecliptic plane) are the paths of the four inner planets. Dots along the rest of the orbits are five days apart (and are black for the part of its course that a planet has trodden since the beginning of the year). Also, semicircles show the sunlit side of the new and full moon (vastly exaggerated in size and distance). Additionally, pairs of lines point outward to the more remote planets.
Phenomena such as perihelia (represented by ticks) and conjunctions (represented by lines between planets) are at dates that can be found in the Astronomical Calendar. Likewise, gray covers the half of the universe below the horizon around 10 p.m. at mid-month (as seen from the equator). The zodiacal constellations are in directions from the Earth at mid-month (not from the sun).
Some resources to enjoy
Don’t miss anything. Subscribe to daily emails from EarthSky. It’s free!
Visit EarthSky’s Best Places to Stargaze to find a dark-sky location near you.
Post your own night sky photos at EarthSky Community Photos.
Translate Universal Time (UTC) to your time.
See the indispensable Observer’s Handbook, from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
Visit Stellarium-Web.org for precise views from your location.
Almanac: Bright Planets (rise and set times for your location).
Visit TheSkyLive for precise views from your location.
Great resource and beautiful wall chart: Guy Ottewell’s zodiac wavy chart.
March visible Planets. Venus is the “evening star.” See Jupiter before it’s gone, it meets up with Mercury on Monday, March 27. Mars is high in the evening sky. Look for Saturn low on the horizon before dawn.
Like what you read?
Subscribe and receive daily news delivered to your inbox.
More from
Marcy Curran
Bright planets Venus-Jupiter 2023: Great photos here
Moon near Mars February 27 and 28
Moon near Pleiades, and more, February 25 and 26
Green comet photos and video: Editors’ picks
