Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Some astronomical events March – April 2026

The Moon will again appear to be very close to the star Regulus March 2ndcloser and closer going west, with an occultation in Hawaii, Japan, Korea, etc.  They will be close together again the evening of March 29th.


There will be a total lunar eclipse the morning of March 3rd (visible from North and South America, the Pacific, and East Asia).  Woodcock activity and the Moon?  North Carolina might miss the finish?  The next total lunar eclipse visible from the Americaafter this will be June 26, 2029 (?).


There will be a conjunction of Venus and Saturn the evening oMarch 7th.  Saturn will soon be hidden by the Sun for about two months.


DST will return March 8th (in the USA).


The Moon will be near and under the bright, reddish star Antaresin Scorpiusthe morning of March 8th.


The Moon will occult the star tau Sagittarii again (see above) on the morning of March 13th (seen from the eastern US and Canada, Cuba, etc.), it will occult the star delta Capricorni or Deneb Algedi March 16th, and the Moon will occult the star kappa Geminorum (by the bright star Pollux and Jupiter was next to it in January, if not in March:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappa_Geminorum ) March 26-27th, seen from the US and throughout Canada and the Caribbean:  is.gd/occultations   The Moon will be close to the star beta Tauri or El Nath March 24th.  It will be an occultation from the eastern Caribbean and northern South America (in beleaguered Venezuela?). 


Jupiter will be furthest north in the sky on March 13th.


Ramadan is February 18th-March 19th this year:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan


Northern Hemisphere's spring equinox will be March 20th (at 10:46am EDT) this year.  The traditional Aries period begins around March 21st (March 20th in 2026??).  R.H. Allen on the constellation Aries:   penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Topics/astronomy/_Texts/secondary/ALLSTA/Aries*.html


The 2026 National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC will be March 20th to April 12th:  nationalcherryblossomfestival.org


The asteroid 20 Massalia will reach opposition March 21st (at 11am EDT).  It was discovered, observing from Naples, September 19, 1852 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis (November 9, 1819 in Bugnara, Abruzzo, in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies – March 21, 1892 in Naples, Campania, Kingdom of Italy) and its name refers to Marseille, France, where astronomer Jean Chacornac (June 21, 1823 in Lyon – September 6, 1873 in Saint-Jean-en-Royans) observed it September 20th.  Massalia was the firsasteroid or minor planet not given a name from myth and not given an "iconic symbol," ain the 'male' symbol for Mars, the 'female' symbol for Venus, etc.?  Water in some form was apparently discovered on Iris (see above) and Massalia in February 2026.  De Gasparis discovered asteroid 16 Psyche March 17, 1852 and others.  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_Massalia , en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annibale_de_Gasparis , and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Chacornac


There will be an apparition of the planet Mercury March 27th, but it won't be very high up; greatest elongation will be April 3rd.


The Moon will be near the relatively bright star Spica in Virgo the evening of April 2nd and again on April 29th, after sidereal month of 27.3 days. 


The Moon will occlude the triple star pi Scorpii or Fang early April 6th from the Eastern US, Central America, and northern South America, but at the northern end only the re-emergence of the three the triple stars (one by one?  50" and 0.0003"of separation is too close to see??will be visible.  From Savannah, Georgia the occultation will be begin at 12:06am EST and end at 1:05am.  See the programs Stellarium.org , SkySafariAstronomy.com , or lunar-occultations.com/iota/occult4.htm ?


The waning crescent Moon (a mere 6 degrees high and higher than the other objects)Mercury, and Mars might be visible the morning of April 15th, whilSaturn and Neptune will definitely be invisible? 


A waxing crescent Moon and the planet Venus will appeato be close together the evening of April 18th.  The Moon can be a marker to find very bright Venus even during daytime.


Comet PanSTARRS (C/2025 R3) was discovered September 820252 from Hawaii and will reach perihelion and be hidden by the Sun April 19th, but icould brighten to magnitude 7 before then.  Iwill be going east (dithey mean to say west??) through the south center side oPegasus (or the Great Square of Pegasus) before (well before?) dawn by late March.


The Lyrid meteor shower will peak around 4am on April 22nd, but will be visible before and after that date.  See amsmeteors.org for dates.


The Moon will be near Jupiter in Gemini in the evening on April 22nd and Jupiter will appear to be close to the star Wasat (see above) on the 30th, not to be repeated before 2037.


Venus will appear to be close to the Pleiades and Uranus the evening of April 23rd.  


The Moon will be close to the BeehiveManger, or Praesepe star cluster (M44) early on April 24th and from the West Coast and Alaska (the best view will be west and north) it will be an occultation.  From San Francisco the occultation will begin around 2am and end around 2:30am.  rly l


The Moon will appear to be close to the relatively bright star Regulus in Leo the evening of April 25th from the Western US, much of México, etc.  It will be an occultation from the Caribbean, the Eastern US, Central America, and northeastern South America (in Venezuela?).  From Miami, Florida the occultation will begin around 8:34pm and end around 9:59pm.  See is.gd/RegulusApril2026 for the timings in 660 places.



– From recent issues of Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazines and see:  planetary.org/night-sky  I don't really know the Winter Hexagon asterism, though it is bright, but there is a chart on page 22 of the February issue Sky and Telescope.  The relatively bright Summer Triangle iuin the east near dawn now.   Looking through R.H. Allen's (early spring?) 1899 book Star Names recently I found out that there is or was a Diamond of Virgo asterism (composed of SpicaArcturus in BootesDenebola in Leo, and Cor Caroli in the relatively dim northern polar constellation Canes Venatici).  


NPR often hypes so-called "supermoons,"


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