Skywatch Line for Wednesday and Thursday, March 19 and 20, 2025, written by Alan French

This is Dudley Observatory’s Skywatch Line for Wednesday and Thursday, March 19 and 20, 2025, written by Alan French.

The Sun rises at 7:00 A.M. on Wednesday and sets at 7:07 P.M. On Thursday it rises at 6:58 A.M. and sets at 7:08 P.M. Thursday gained 20 minutes 28 seconds of daylight compared to last Thursday.

The Moon was Full last Friday and is headed toward last quarter. Moonrise is now after midnight. Moonrise will be at 12:56 A.M. Thursday and 1:59 A.M. Friday. The Moon will reach last quarter Saturday.

At 6 A.M. Wednesday morning a 78% sunlit Moon will be low in the south southwestern sky and will set at 9:01 A.M. Thursday at 6 A.M. will find the Moon, just under 80% illuminated, low toward the south. It will set at 9:35 A.M.

There is an extra bonus to catching the waning gibbous Moon on Thursday morning, it will be near Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius, the Scorpion. If you catch them at 6 A.M., Antares will be 3 ½ degrees to the left and slightly above the Moon. Earlier in the morning, Antares was a little farther from the Moon, with the separation 3 ¾ degrees at 2 A.M., 40 minutes after Antares rose and when it is 5 degrees above the southeastern horizon.

At 8:30 P.M. bright Jupiter, at magnitude -2.2, is high in the west southwest. Look for a bright, orangish star 6 ½ degrees below and a bit north of Jupiter. The is Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus, the Bull. It shines at magnitude 0.86, is the 14th brightest star in the night sky, and is about 86 light years away. It lies in the same direction as the Hyades, a large open cluster, a spheroidal ball of hundreds of stars sharing the same origin and age. At 153 light years distance, it is the nearest open cluster. Aldebaran, lying at a little more than half the distance of the cluster, is in front of the eastern edge of the cluster. From our vantage point, the cluster appears about 5 ½ degrees across. Under dark skies, many of its stars are visible by eye, and it is a nice sight in binoculars.

When Taurus is portrayed in old star atlases, Aldebaran represents an eye. Rough lines of stars going northeastward form his horns. The left horn, the upper horn in the sky, goes just past Jupiter now. Jupiter is slowly moving eastward against the stars of Taurus. On the evening of June 11, it will enter Gemini, but the Sun will be just 12 degrees west of the giant planet and it will not be well or easily observed.