Changing times, sights and a near-miss

Before we start, I would hope by now you have all made your annual "leap forward" and changed your clocks into Mountain Daylight Time. Daylight Saving Time, our annual leap of partial insanity which makes us think we have a longer day.

I am reminded the story of when a Native American chief was told about Daylight Saving Time he said, "It would take the government to think that by cutting a foot off one end of a blanket and putting on the other that he would have a longer blanket."

Okay space fans, three things to talk about this week. First the vernal equinox (first day of spring), second a moon/planet conjunction, and third, the lunar eclipse that was close, but no cigar.

First, the first day of spring.

I know we have all been waiting for it since that pesky rodent in Pennsylvania said we were going to have an early one--and we have been having some nice spring-like weather--but now we will have the real thing.

In reality, the seasons and their changes are more of an astronomical event than one of the calendar. Spring, or the vernal equinox as it is called, happens when the Sun crosses the celestial equator traveling north.

That event happens at 10:30 am MDT on Sunday, March 20.

On that day the Sun will rise due east and set due west. It might be a fun event if you observe sunrise on that day and mark its location on the horizon, then go out again several days later to see just how far north the Sun has progressed.

The term "equinox" refers to "equal day and night." However, since we here in southwest Nebraska are almost exactly 40 degrees above the equator, our day of equal night and day happens on Thursday, March 17, when there will be exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness.

If you are interested, the 40th parallel is the Nebraska/Kansas state line.

Our second event is the conjunction of the planet Jupiter and the almost-full moon. Look above the eastern horizon at about 8:00 pm local time for the pair. These planet/moon meetings happen because both travel along the ecliptic, the imaginary line that marks the plane of our galaxy.

It will be a nice event to observe in binoculars, or use a telescope to examine Jupiter and its moons which are larger than normal because Jupiter was at opposition--closest for the year -- last week.

Our last event should probably be better called a "non-event." It is an almost eclipse of the moon.

I say almost because the moon will pass into the outer, or penumbral, shadow of the Earth.

This outer shadow is lighter and does not darken the moon's surface like the inner--or umbral shadow--does.

This eclipse near-miss happens because the moon's orbital path around Earth is tilted about five degrees which means that sometimes the moon is above Earth's shadow cones, sometimes below, but when it passes directly through them we have a lunar eclipse.

If you would like to look to see if you can detect a slight dimming of the moon's light, it will enter the penumbral cone at about 3:46 am MDT Wednesday, March 23rd and stay there until after moon set.

SKY WATCH: First quarter moon yesterday, March 15, full moon next Wednesday, March 23. Mars and Saturn are rising earlier, both planets are high in the south at 6:00 am local time and Mars will be at opposition in May.

NEXT WEEK: More astronomical blathering.