Scruton Sky at Night – March 2021

The skies are gradually getting lighter in the evening with the Spring Equinox on 20 March – equal day and night, and the change to BST on 28 March when the clocks go forward one hour.

On the morning of 10 March, around 6.30 am, there is a quadruple formation of a thin crescent Moon and the planets Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn, grouped together, very low in the South East sky. Pluto is also there, but not visible, and also Venus which will probably be too close to the rising sun to be visible. It is quite unusual to have this many planets grouped together.

There is interesting news concerning the successful landing on Mars, of NASA’s Perseverance Rover. There is an amazing video on YouTube of the actual descent when the parachute opens and the sky crane gently lowers the rover onto the surface. Expect to see the release of more photos and videos, and even the actual sound of wind on Mars! There will also be the trial flight of the Ingenuity ‘helicopter’.