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Your guide to constellations, deep-sky objects,

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planets and events.

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Tonight's Sky – highlights of the March sky.

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As the brilliant stars of winter progress

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toward the west,

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the constellations of spring make their appearance.

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Two March constellations

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derived from Greek mythology, Gemini and Cancer,

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lie in the zodiac.

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The zodiac is the name for the band of sky through

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which the Sun, Moon, and planets appear to travel.

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The Gemini twins by high overhead.

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They were among Jason’s Argonauts,

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who sailed the seas searching for the Golden Fleece.

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The two bright stars are the heads of the brothers,

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Castor and Pollux.

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A fuzzy patch lies near the “feet” of the Gemini twins.

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Called M35,

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it is a pretty cluster of several hundred stars.

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Cancer is often identified as a crab,

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but has also been seen as a lobster or crayfish.

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In Greek mythology, Cancer was placed in the heavens

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by Hera, wife of Zeus, to immortalize its tenacious but

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futile battle with Hercules.

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It is a much dimmer constellation than Gemini,

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and hard to see in light-polluted skies.

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Within Cancer lies the lovely Beehive Cluster.

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Ancient stargazers called it “the cloudy star.”

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This large cluster contains hundreds of stars

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and lies about 577 light-years away from us.

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Before dawn, a string of planets highlight the

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eastern sky: Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter.

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Jupiter and Saturn are the largest

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planets in our solar system,

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while Mars is second only to Mercury as the smallest.

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With a backyard telescope, the rings of Saturn

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and the bands of Jupiter are clearly visible,

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while Mars appears as a small, orange-red disk.