Five Bright Planets Visible In March

Anyone who wants to observe planets would be happy to hear that March is the perfect month to do so with five bright planets visible from the Earth's skies.

While March marks the end of Venus as an evening star, and before people say goodbye to the Solar System's brightest planet, Mars and Uranus will be joining Venus in the western sky after sunset at the opening of the month. EarthSky reported that every day, Venus sets sooner in the west after sunset. Thus, Venus will cross from being an evening star to a morning star by the end of the month.

Mercury will take over the evening skies by mid-March onwards, where it will be seen as an easy target to spot just after sunset, right above the western horizon. As Times of Malta noted, this is especially a catch as Mercury usually shines at a lower altitude, thus making it more difficult to see most of the time.

Jupiter, on the other hand, will make a comeback in the night skies by the end of the month. It will take Mercury's place, rising shortly after sunset and seems closer to Spica in the Virgo constellation.

Saturn, meanwhile, is set to rise after midnight. The ringed planet has been in the vicinity of the red, superguiant star Antares, from the constellation Scorpius.

Another highlight in the evening skies include the shift of the Orion constellation from the south to the southwest after sunset. Constellation Leo climbs back up in the east, and both events are said to be signs of the Earth moving along its orbit, thus the change of its view into space.

Finally, the spring equinox is set to return in the morning of March 20, when day and night are said to be equal. As the Sun crosses northwards towards the equator, however, everywhere around the world will show nights getting shorter and shorter.