Ephemeris Star Charts – March 2020

Contents:

Monthly Star Chart s for Northern Michigan (about 45° North)
Twilight ranges for the Grand Traverse Area
Monthly star chart for the Southern Hemisphere

The charts contain the entire dome of the sky as seen from around 45 degrees north latitude and at the dates and times for the locations listed below.

Planet positions are plotted for the 15th of the month. The moon is not shown. To track the planet positions at weekly intervals go to my Ephemeris Blog for my Wednesday posting at bobmoler.wordpress.com.

The charts contain the entire dome of the sky as seen from around 45 degrees north latitude and at the dates and times for the locations listed below.

March Evening Star Chart

Date	Grand Traverse region, Michigan - Eastern Time
1st.	10:00 p.m. EST
8th.	10:30 p.m. EDT
15th.	10:00 p.m. EDT
22nd.	9:30 p.m. EDT
29th.	9:00 p.m. EDT

March Morning Star Chart

For early birds I’m including a morning star chart too, which shows the stars we’ll see in the evening 4 months from now.

Date	Grand Traverse region, Michigan - Eastern Time
1st.	6:00 a.m. EST
8th.	6:30 a.m. EDT
15th.	6:00 a.m. EDT
22nd.	5:30 a.m. EDT
29th.	5:00 a.m. EDT

If you want to convert the above times for your locality in North America click here.

The outer edge of the chart is the horizon with the compass points marked. The chart is oriented as one is looking south. The constellation outlines in magenta are those of the Zodiac. The magenta line is the ecliptic, the path of the sun. The white line that passes through the east and west compass points is the celestial equator, above the earth's equator. The white lines that cross in the north at the north celestial pole are major right ascension lines and are like meridians on the earth.

All constellations shown have the standard three letter abbreviation. The constellation abbreviations, names and bright star names are found here.

Also on the sky dome are helps to locate other stars and constellations from the Big Dipper, and asterisms.

The arrow from the pointer stars of the Big Dipper to Polaris the North Star, near the north celestial pole.
A leaky dipper drips on Leo
Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to Arcturus, then
Follow the Spike to Spica.
The Summer Triangle is in red.

Twilight, Astronomical and Nautical

The above times calculated by the calendar function of Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts)

			EST/DST
	Morning twilight		Evening twilight		Dark night		Moon
Date	Astro.	Nautical	Nautical	Astro.	Start	End	Illum.
2020-03-01	5h43m	6h17m	19h33m	20h06m	0h33m	5h43m	0.41
2020-03-02	5h41m	6h15m	19h34m	20h08m	1h36m	5h41m	0.52
2020-03-03	5h39m	6h13m	19h35m	20h09m	2h40m	5h39m	0.62
2020-03-04	5h37m	6h11m	19h36m	20h10m	3h42m	5h37m	0.73
2020-03-05	5h36m	6h10m	19h38m	20h12m	4h40m	5h36m	0.82
2020-03-06	5h34m	6h08m	19h39m	20h13m	5h31m	5h34m	0.91
2020-03-07	5h32m	6h06m	19h40m	20h14m	-	-	0.97
2020-03-08	6h30m	7h04m	20h42m	21h16m	-	-	0.97
2020-03-09	6h28m	7h02m	20h43m	21h17m	-	-	1
2020-03-10	6h26m	7h01m	20h44m	21h18m	-	-	1
2020-03-11	6h25m	6h59m	20h46m	21h20m	21h20m	22h26m	0.96
2020-03-12	6h23m	6h57m	20h47m	21h21m	21h21m	23h45m	0.9
2020-03-13	6h21m	6h55m	20h48m	21h23m	21h23m	-	0.81
2020-03-14	6h19m	6h53m	20h50m	21h24m	21h24m	1h01m	0.71
2020-03-15	6h17m	6h51m	20h51m	21h25m	21h25m	2h14m	0.6
2020-03-16	6h15m	6h49m	20h52m	21h27m	21h27m	3h21m	0.49
2020-03-17	6h13m	6h48m	20h53m	21h28m	21h28m	4h21m	0.38
2020-03-18	6h11m	6h46m	20h55m	21h30m	21h30m	5h13m	0.29
2020-03-19	6h09m	6h44m	20h56m	21h31m	21h31m	5h55m	0.2
2020-03-20	6h11m	6h46m	21h01m	21h36m	21h36m	6h11m	0.12
2020-03-21	6h09m	6h44m	21h03m	21h38m	21h38m	6h09m	0.07
2020-03-22	6h07m	6h42m	21h04m	21h39m	21h39m	6h07m	0.03
2020-03-23	6h04m	6h40m	21h05m	21h41m	21h41m	6h04m	0
2020-03-24	6h02m	6h38m	21h07m	21h42m	21h42m	6h02m	0
2020-03-25	6h00m	6h36m	21h08m	21h44m	21h44m	6h00m	0.02
2020-03-26	5h58m	6h34m	21h10m	21h45m	22h23m	5h58m	0.05
2020-03-27	5h56m	6h32m	21h11m	21h47m	23h25m	5h56m	0.1
2020-03-28	5h54m	6h30m	21h12m	21h48m	-	5h54m	0.17
2020-03-29	5h52m	6h28m	21h14m	21h50m	0h28m	5h52m	0.25
2020-03-30	5h50m	6h26m	21h15m	21h51m	1h31m	5h50m	0.35
2020-03-31	5h48m	6h24m	21h16m	21h53m	2h33m	5h48m	0.45

Monthly Evening Star Chart for Observers in the Southern Hemisphere

The chart contains the entire dome of the sky as seen from around 26 degrees south latitude at 2 hours after sunset on the 15th of the month.

Planet positions are also plotted for the 15th of the month. The moon is not shown. The Magellanic Clouds, which are satellite galaxies of the Milky Way. The Large Magellanic Cloud is located in the constellation Dorado (Dor) the Flying Fish. The Small Magellanic Cloud is located in the constellation of Tucana (Tuc) the Toucan.

Quick jump to:

Top of this page
Ephemeris Home page
Ephemeris Calendar

Questions or comments, send an email to: bob@bjmoler.org

Updated 02/29/20