Outreach

Astronomical events for the month of March 2025

When the month of March is mentioned, for many, the first thing that comes to mind is the beginning of spring. Here, we'll tell you the date and time of its arrival in the Northern Hemisphere. Furthermore, the month of March has become very important in highlighting the work of women in all fields, including science. We'll remember the great astronomer Caroline Herschel. We'll tell you about the first lunar eclipse of the year and its coincidence with a meteor shower. As a challenge for the month, we suggest you try to find a very peculiar trio. Finally, as is customary, we present the phases of the Moon.

Spring is here!

The arrival of spring generally fills us with joy, as the fields turn green, the plants bloom, and life seems to revive. The vernal equinox is an astronomical event that characterizes the time of year when the length of day and night are almost equal. This is because the Sun's rays illuminate the Northern and Southern Hemispheres equally, meaning the Sun is directly over the equator. This year, spring begins on March 20 at 9:01 a.m. UT (Universal Time), that is, at 3:01 a.m. Central Mexico time.

In Her brother's shadow

Unfortunately, like many other women of science of that time, Caroline Lucretia Herschel (Germany, 1750–1848) grew up, in many ways, in the shadow of her brother, the astronomer William Herschel, unable to shine on her own. In 1781, William Herschel, though not yet a renowned astronomer, discovered the planet Uranus. By 1786, together with his sister, he had opened his own observatory and placed himself at the service of King George III of England. A year later, the Crown granted Caroline a salary as her brother's personal assistant.

After William's death in 1822, Caroline returned to her hometown and devoted herself to compiling a catalog of 2,500 nebulous objects. These would serve as the basis for the General Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters, published by her nephew John Herschel in 1864, and later for the New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters, edited by Johan Ludvig Emil Drayer, the famous catalog known as NGC.

When Carolina separated from her brother, she devoted herself to solo observations, discovering eight comets and several nebulae, including M110, despite having lost the sight in her left eye due to typhus in her childhood.

In 1828, she was awarded a Gold Medal by the Astronomical Society of England and elected an honorary member in 1835. She and Mary Somerville became the first women to become official members of this organization. In 1846, at the age of 96, the King of Prussia awarded her a Gold Medal for Science, which was presented to her by Alexander von Humboldt.

The Moon Turns Red

From Thursday, March 13th to Friday, March 14th, we will experience a spectacular total lunar eclipse that will make the moon appear reddish, brownish, or coppery due to the passage of sunlight through Earth's atmosphere. This event will be visible throughout Mexico. Here are the details:

It also coincides with the Gamma Norminid meteor shower, which occurs between February 25 and March 28, peaking in the early hours of March 14. The maximum observable rate will be 6 meteors per hour. It will be difficult to observe due to the proximity to the horizon and the presence of the full Moon, but we may be able to see some fleeting meteors toward the south-southeast of the celestial sphere.

Leo Triplet

The constellation of Leo is a group of stars that, based on its asterism (an imaginary figure formed by the brightest stars, connected to each other, located in a specific area of ​​the celestial sphere), resembles a lion. It is easily identifiable between the constellations of Cancer (to the west) and Virgo (to the east), and is visible during spring in the northern hemisphere of the Earth.

The constellation of Leo is distinguished by containing several bright stars such as Regulus, Denebola, Algeba, Zosma, and Chertan; as well as a number of galaxies, including the spiral galaxies M65, M66, and NGC 3628, collectively known as the Leo Triplet.

Galaxies M65 and M66 were discovered by Charles Messier in 1780. M65 appears as a "normal" spiral galaxy, type Sa, while M66 is a spiral galaxy with a poorly defined central bulge, classified as type Sb. NGC 3628 displays a thick galactic disk divided by a dark band, hence the name "Hamburger Galaxy."

The Triplet field is about 500,000 light-years across and is located at a distance of 35 to 45 million light-years from us. It can be admired with binoculars or a small telescope. Larger aperture telescopes provide greater detail.

Phases of the Moon (Central Mexico Time).

Watch the video of the month: @planetariocozumel655

Contacts:

Dr. Agustín Márquez Limón (amarquez@inaoep.mx), Coordinación de Astrofísica-INAOE

M.C. Tania Martínez (astronomaplanetariokayok@gmail.com), Red de Planetarios del Estado de Quintana Roo

Dr. Raúl Mújica García (rmujica@inaoep.mx), Coordinación de Astrofísica-INAOE y Noche de las Estrellas