View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Dr Ski in Valencia, Philippines, caught Jupiter and Mars close together on March 21, 2020. He wrote: “We need to savor fleeting moments like this. Next year this view will be devoid of planets.” Thank you, Dr Ski!
View more moon and planet photos at EarthSky Community Photos .
In the coming week, we’ll be asking for your #SocialDistanceSelfies . Submit to EarthSky here . Thank you!
Enjoying the sky is something we all can do from a social distance. Share your photos at EarthSky Community Photos (submit here ), or at EarthSky Facebook . Over this past week, we’ve been focused on the moon passing four planets before sunup. Thanks to all who posted!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Hazarry Ali Ahmad in Kampong Keriam, Brunei Darussalam, caught Jupiter and Mars on March 21, 2020. He wrote: “The largest planet Jupiter with its four Jovian moons and the red planet Mars visibly fit in the same FOV of a small telescope (about 0.7° separation) in a spectacular planetary pairing this morning from Brunei Darussalam.” Thank you, Hazarry!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Peter Lowenstein in Mutare, Zimbabwe, caught the Jupiter-Mars conjunction on March 20, 2020 (day of the equinox), with Saturn, the moon and Mercury below. Juiter and Mars are toward the top of the photo; notice how bright Jupiter is, and how red Mars is. Thank you, Peter!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Pradnya Gharpure in Nagpur, India, wrote on March 20, 2020: “Finally got the glimpse of Mercury! Though Mercury’s faint, the 4 planets made a marvellous display today morning!” Congratulations on seeing Mercury, Pradnya!
Share your moon and planet photos with EarthSky Facebook View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Peter Benedict Tubalinal in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, wrote on March 20, 2020: “Absolutely fantastic! Lunar features are always best seen when the moon is on crescent phase, such as the waning crescent which was imaged this morning using just a smartphone on a telescope.”
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Dr Ski in Valencia, Philippines, wrote on March 19, 2020: “What a cool sight this morning.” Thanks, Dr Ski!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Peter Lowenstein in Mutare, Zimbabwe, caught the moon and 3 planets on March 19, 2020. He wrote: “Absence of cloud early Thursday morning provided a clear view of the waning moon and the 3 planets Saturn, Jupiter and Mars in a lilac predawn sky.” Jupiter is the brighter of the 2 planets at the top of the photo; Mars is the reddish planet right next to Jupiter. Saturn is the planet nearest the moon in this photo. Thanks, Peter.
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | James Younger in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, caught the moon and planets on March 18, 2020. Thank you, James.
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Eliot Herman in Tucson, Arizona, caught the planets and moon on March 18, 2020. Thank you, Eliot.
Don Gargano wrote on March 18, 2020: “The planets Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, from Great Island Common, New Castle, New Hampshire.” Thanks, Don!
Jean-Baptiste Feldmann of Cielmania wrote on March 18: “Nice heavenly date this morning before sunrise between 3 planets and the old moon croissant.” Thank you, Jean-Baptiste!
The image above is from the morning of March 18. Jupiter is the bright starlike object on the left, Mars is to the right of Jupiter, and the moon is below. You’ll find these objects in the eastern predawn sky this week . Note that the moon is over-exposed in this photo to bring Mars into easier view; the moon is really a waning crescent . This photo is from Tom and Jane Wildoner’s Dark Side Observatory. Read more from Tom about how he captured it .
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | George Preoteasa in Queens, New York, wrote on March 18: “It was rather hazy, so I could see only Jupiter and Mars. Saturn was not visible to the unaided eye. But the moon halo made up for it.” Thank you, George!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Richard Swieca in Dollard des Ormeaux, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, wrote on March 18: “Moon, Jupiter, Mars with early morning plane taking off from nearby Montreal Trudeau Airport.” Thank you, Richard!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Kannan A wrote on March 17, 2020: “Planets galore this morning in Singapore. Photo was taken this morning an hour before sunrise.” Thank you, Kannan A!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Dr Ski wrote on March 17, 2020: “I had to venture into the Coconut ‘Planetation’ to capture Mercury in astronomical twilight.”
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Alexander Krivenyshev of Guttenberg, New Jersey – publisher of the website WorldTimeZone.com – captured this photo on the morning of March 16, 2020. He wrote: “Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, last quarter Moon and Antares (Scorpius) over Manhattan, New York (there is always time for the social gatherings with the real stars during clear sky conditions over NYC …)” Thank you, Alexander!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Dr Ski wrote on March 17, 2020: “I had to venture into the Coconut ‘Planetation’ to capture Mercury in astronomical twilight.”
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the moon and the constellation Scorpius on March 16, 2020 from Dennis Schoenfelder in Alamosa, Colorado.
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Dr Ski in Valencia, Philippines, caught this shot of Jupiter and Mars on March 16, 2020, just 4 days before their coming conjuncton. He wrote: “Jupiter and Mars now fit in the same 3° FOV of my low-power eyepiece.” Thank you, Dr Ski!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Joel Weatherly in Edmonton, Aberta, Canada, wrote on March 16: “I have been enjoying selenography lately, so here is this morning’s third quarter moon with labels for ten features I found interesting. This image was captured about four hours after the moon exactly reached its third quarter phase.” Thank you, Joel!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Jenney Disimon in Sabah, N. Borneo, caught the moon on March 16, 2020, too, when it was nearly – but not quite – at the last quarter phase. Thank you, Jenney!
View on Facebook . | April Singer wrote on March 16, 2020: “The waning moon as it was getting low in the sky Sunday (yesterday) morning from Santa Clara Pueblo, northern New Mexico, USA. Stay safe everyone, be kind.” Thank you, April.
Bottom line: Photos from the EarthSky community of the waning moon and planets in the east before sunup, around the March 2020 equinox.
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Deborah Byrd
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About the Author:
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.