The big news for the night sky this month is the appearance of Comet PanSTARRS to residents of the Northern Hemisphere of Earth (e.g., the U.S., Europe, China). We’ve produced a separate blog article for the comet: Click here to read that article.
But you can also see the giant planet Jupiter during the evening hours in March 2013. A particularly good night for identifying Jupiter is March 17 (March 18 for those of you in the Eastern Hemisphere of Earth [e.g., Australia, Japan, China, India]). Plus, Saturn rises after midnight and is visible to you early birds toward the southwestern horizon.
Comets have two tails: Dust particles come from the bright, white tail. When those particles enter Earth's atmosphere and burn up, they become meteors, a.k.a. "shooting stars." The light, blue tail is composed of charged, atomic particles called "ions."
To See the Shooting Stars: All you need to see the shooting stars is a clear sky (away from city lights), a lawn chair, and either:
Mosquito repellent if you live in the northern hemisphere of Earth; or
Winter clothing if you live in the southern hemisphere of Earth!
Wait for the moon to set, and go outside close to midnight. Then, lay down on your lawn chair or on a blanket and look up: You don’t need a telescope or binoculars. You might see as many as 50 shooting stars per hour! You should see more and more meteors per hour as the night progresses, until just before dawn. One caveat, though: How many meteors you can see per hour is pretty much hit-or-miss. Predicting meteor showers is sorta’ like predicting rain showers: It’s not an exact science yet! But you should see a number of shooting stars. (Don’t forget to make a wish!)
As you see the shooting stars, try to notice where they are coming from in the night sky. If you have one of our Planisphere constellation finders, you’ll notice the stars appear to be coming from the constellation “Perseus.” Hence, this annual meteor shower is called the “Perseid Meteor Shower.”
Enjoy the view … and may all your wishes come true!
~
When You Wish Upon A Star
by Louis Armstrong
When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
If your heart is in your dreams
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
As sweet fulfillment of their secret drowns
Like a boat out of the blue
Fate steps in and see’s you through
Moma when you wished upon a star
Your dreams come true
[Instrumental break]
Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
As sweet fulfillment of their secret drowns
Like a boat out of the blue
Fate steps in and see’s you through
Baby when you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true
When you wished upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Your dreams come true
