What’s Up March 2026

A monthly look at astronomical events in the sky and on Earth

Compiled and written by Steve Sawyer

Welcome to March’s edition of What’s Up

Welcome to the March 2026 edition of “What’s Up”! This month marks a major transition in our skies as we say goodbye to the dark depths of winter, and hopefully the murk and damp that seems to have been the weather since the start of the year!
Welcome the astronomical start of spring. The Sun crosses the celestial equator on March 20, bringing the Vernal Equinox, where day and night are of almost equal length. For observers in the UK and Ireland, don’t forget that British Summer Time (BST) begins on March 29, so clocks will go forward.
This month we’re using Monet inspired images.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Monet

This Months and Upcoming York Astro Presentations

Upcoming events to put in your diary

Date	Title	Speaker
06/03/2026	How the Universe Will End	Brad Gibson
20/03/2026	The Physics of Stars, From Birth to Death	Mark Laughton
03/04/2026	Good Friday No Meeting
17/04/2026	Members Evening – Short Talks	York AS Members

For further details see the events page Astronomy Presentations by guest speakers | York Astro and our Facebook group (20+) The York Astronomical Society Chat Group | Facebook

So what’s on this month?

Northern Sky

An artistic view of the Northern night sky

In March, the familiar shape of Ursa Major, containing the Big Dipper (or Plough), is now “upside down” and riding extremely high in the sky for northern observers. Auriga, featuring the brilliantly bright star Capella, is also very high on the opposite side of the meridian. You will find the constellation of Perseus positioned between Auriga and Andromeda over in the western sky. Due north, the distinctive “W” of Cassiopeia and the house-shaped Cepheus are prominent, while Vega and Deneb sit very low near the horizon, often lost in the atmospheric haze.

Southern Sky

An artistic view of the southern night sky

Looking south, the dazzling planets Venus and Jupiter continue to dominate the evening views. They are joined by the large spring constellations of Leo (led by bright Regulus), Virgo (featuring Spica), and Hydra. Nestled between Gemini in the west and Leo in the east is the zodiacal constellation of Cancer the Crab, home to the famous Beehive Cluster.

March 2026 Calendar

Date	Time (UT)	Event	Details
Mar 02	12:00	Moon & Regulus	Regulus 0.4°S of the Moon
Mar 03	11:34	Total Lunar Eclipse	Visible from Americas, Asia, Australasia (Not UK)
Mar 03	11:38	Full Moon
Mar 06	17:24	Moon & Spica	Spica 1.8°N of the Moon
Mar 07	11:30	Venus & Neptune	Venus passes 4 arcminutes from Neptune (close conjunction)
Mar 08	—	Venus & Saturn	Saturn 55 arcminutes left of Venus
Mar 10	11:32	Moon & Antares	Antares 0.7°N of Moon (Occultation in Antarctica/NZ)
Mar 11	09:39	Last Quarter Moon
Mar 14	Night	γ-Normid Meteors	Peak of shower
Mar 15	19:34	Mercury & Mars	Mercury 3.4°N of Mars
Mar 17	14:07	Moon & Mercury	Mercury 2.0°N of the Moon
Mar 19	01:23	New Moon	Cycle resets
Mar 20	12:39	Moon & Venus	Venus 4.6°S of the thin crescent Moon
Mar 20	14:46	Vernal Equinox	First day of astronomical spring
Mar 23	08:32	Moon & Pleiades	Pleiades cluster 1.1°S of Moon
Mar 25	19:18	First Quarter Moon
Mar 26	12:13	Moon & Jupiter	Jupiter 3.9°S of Moon
Mar 27	03:18	Moon & Pollux	Pollux 3.0°N of Moon
Mar 29	01:00	BST Begins	Clocks go forward 1 hour in UK
Mar 29	19:00	Moon Occults Regulus	Regulus 0.4°S of Moon; visible from UK, Europe, Africa, Asia
This table captures the astronomical events for March, including phases of the moon, planetary alignments, and other notable occurrences.

Sky Maps

Looking South on the 15th at 22:00

Looking North on the 15th at 22:00

The two charts above show all DSOs of magnitude 6.0 or brighter. They are both taken from
SkyViewCafe.com and correct for the 15th of the month.

March Sky Guide

The Sun

☀️ Solar Forecast – March 2026

Source: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Centre (SWPC) | Data: 27-Day & 45-Day Outlook (Issued 23-25 Feb 2026)

As we navigate the heightened activity of Solar Cycle 25, predicting space weather is essential for knowing when to look out for auroras or complex sunspots. For March, the forecast shows moderate solar flux but points to a very exciting mid-to-late month period for geomagnetic storms and potential aurora sightings!

🌌 Aurora Watch: Key Storm Windows

The Kp Index measures global geomagnetic activity. For March, NOAA forecasts several periods where the index is expected to reach Kp 5 (a G1 Minor Geomagnetic Storm) and even Kp 6 (a G2 Moderate Geomagnetic Storm).

March 10 & 14: Kp 5 (G1 Minor Storm). Two distinct spikes are predicted during this week. High-latitude observers should keep a close eye on real-time data.
March 20 – 22: Kp 5 to Kp 6 (G1 to G2 Storms). This is the most significant predicted event of the month! Activity peaks sharply on March 21 with an A-index of 38 and a Kp of 6. This represents a fantastic opportunity for aurora chasers across the UK, potentially pushing displays well south into England and Wales if conditions align.

☀️ Solar Activity: Sunspot & Radio Flux Trends

For those using solar telescopes or safe filters, the 10.7cm Radio Flux (a proxy for sunspot complexity) sits at moderate levels this month:

Early March (1 – 9 Mar): The month opens with healthy activity levels, peaking at 130 sfu around March 6–8. Expect some good, stable sunspot observing.
Mid-to-Late March (10 – 22 Mar): The radio flux drops slightly, reaching a low of 110 sfu by March 20-21. Interestingly, this dip in solar emission coincides with the highest geomagnetic disturbances of the month.
End of March (23 – 31 Mar): Flux values gradually climb back up to 125 sfu as things settle into a quiet, stable geomagnetic period (Kp 2), making it an excellent time for deep-sky observation.

📊 Summary Table

Date	Max Solar Flux (10.7 cm)	Max Geomagnetic A Index	Max Kp	Activity Notes
Mar 01–07	130	15	4	Quiet start, becoming active (Kp 4) around Mar 5–6.
Mar 08–14	130	20	5	G1 Storm expected on Mar 10 and Mar 14. Good aurora chances.
Mar 15–21	116	38	6	Major Aurora Alert! G1 storms on Mar 20, peaking at G2 on Mar 21.
Mar 22–28	122	20	5	Active start on the 22nd (G1 possible), then settling down quickly.
Mar 29–31	125	5	2	Very quiet and stable conditions.

📊 Forecast Visualisation

The chart below highlights the correlation between the G1/G2 storm thresholds (red lines) and the predicted Kp peaks for the period.

Aurora Forecasts

A bit US centred but still useful Aurora Dashboard (Experimental) | NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center And our own Met-office have an excellent space weather forecast page here Space Weather – Met Office

Auroa Forecasts

A bit US centred but still useful

Aurora Dashboard (Experimental) | NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center

And our own Met-office have an excellent space weather forecast page here Space Weather – Met Office

The Moon

March’s Lunar Calendar

March’s moon calendar from Sky View Café (skyviewcafe.com).

Lunar Guide

Regulus Occultation (March 29)

For UK observers, the Moon provides a fantastic treat on the evening of March 29. At around 8:20 pm (exact times depend on location), the bright star Regulus will emerge from behind the Moon following an occultation. If you use binoculars, you will first see the star’s fainter companion, Regulus B (mag +8.1), appear from behind the lunar disk, followed six minutes later by the brilliant primary star itself (mag +1.4).
A full yearly lunar calendar can be found here :-

https://www.mooninfo.org/moon-phases/2026.html

Moon Feature

Montes Apenninus (The Apennine Mountains)

As the Moon reaches its First Quarter phase on March 25, the lunar terminator (the dividing line between lunar day and night) sweeps across one of the most spectacular mountain ranges on the Moon: Montes Apenninus. Forming the southwestern rim of the vast Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains), these mountains were thrust upward by the giant meteoroid impact that excavated the Imbrium basin over 4 billion years ago.

Best Time to View: March 25–27, as the Sun rises over the First Quarter and Waxing Gibbous Moon.
What to Look For: Using binoculars or a small telescope, watch as the craggy peaks cast exceptionally long, dramatic shadows across the dark, flat basaltic plains of the mare. Along the eastern flank of the mountain range, see if you can spot Hadley Rille—a meandering collapsed lava tube that served as the historic landing site for the Apollo 15 astronauts. Just to the west of the mountains, look for the large, relatively smooth-floored crater Archimedes.

Planets

⚪ Mercury

Mercury starts the month trailing the Sun in Pisces, but it rapidly moves into the dawn sky in Aquarius. It’s joined by Mars on March 15 (passing 3.4° north of the Red Planet). However, its position makes it very challenging to spot this month.

🟡 Venus

Venus is a brilliant Evening Star this month, shining at magnitude -3.9 low in the west like a lantern in the dusk twilight. Setting around 7:30 pm, it passes less than a degree from Saturn on March 8. On March 20, Venus forms a stunning, highly photogenic pair with a thin crescent Moon.

🔴 Mars

Mars spends the month in Aquarius, shining relatively faintly at magnitude +1.1 to +1.2. It remains too close to the Sun’s glare to be easily visible to observers.

🟠 Jupiter

Jupiter continues to lord over the night-time sky. Blazing at magnitude -2.4 to -2.2 in the constellation Gemini, it is brilliantly placed high up and doesn’t set until around 4 am. It ends its retrograde motion on March 11 and sits near the Moon on March 26.

🪐 Saturn

At the start of March, Saturn (magnitude +1.0) can be found in Pisces, setting around 7:30 pm above Venus. Venus quickly passes it on March 8, and by mid-month, Saturn will drop down into the Sun’s glare, completely out of sight, before swinging into the dawn sky later in the month.

🔵 Uranus

Uranus lies in Taurus, below the Pleiades star cluster. At magnitude +5.8, it sets around midnight and requires binoculars or a telescope to be spotted against the background stars.

🔷 Neptune

Neptune spends March in Pisces at magnitude +7.8. Venus passes incredibly close to Neptune (just 4 arcminutes) on March 7, though this specific conjunction is best visible from eastern Asia. By the end of March, Neptune approaches the Sun and transitions into the dawn sky.

Meteor Showers

March is relatively quiet for meteors. The only notable shower is the γ-Normids (Gamma-Normids), which peak on March 14. This is a minor shower primarily for southern hemisphere observers, with a very low maximum rate of about 6 meteors per hour. They can be quite difficult to distinguish from random, sporadic meteors.

Comets

Comet Name	Predicted Magnitude	Visibility Period (Approx.)	Notes
C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos)	8	Evening	The brightest evening comet this month. Well-placed for binoculars or small telescopes.
C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS)	8	Morning	A great morning target, shining equally as bright as Wierzchos but visible before dawn.
C/2026 A1 (MAPS)	9	Evening	A solid target for the evening sky; requires a telescope.
88P/Howell	9	Morning	Reaches perihelion on March 18. Visible very low in the pre-dawn sky.
24P/Schaumasse	10	Midnight to Morning	Fading from its earlier peak, but climbs high in the sky through the early hours.
29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1	13 (Variable)	Most of the night	Distant centaur object infamous for unpredictable, massive outbursts. Always worth checking.
240P/NEAT	13	Evening to Midnight	Very faint, telescopic object for experienced observers.
C/2025 L1 (ATLAS)	13	Most of the night	Very faint, reaches its highest altitude in the morning sky.

C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) & C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS)

For comet hunters, March offers a beautiful symmetry with two magnitude 8 comets gracing our skies. C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) is your prime evening target. Having made its closest approach to Earth last month, it remains bright enough to be an excellent binocular and small-telescope object as soon as the sky darkens. For the early risers, C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) takes over the morning sky, offering similar brightness before the dawn twilight washes it out.

88P/Howell

The short-period Jupiter-family comet 88P/Howell makes its perihelion passage (closest approach to the Sun) on March 18. While it should brighten to around magnitude 9 this month, it sits very low on the horizon in the morning sky, making it a tricky but rewarding target to track down in the pre-dawn glow.

24P/Schaumasse

24P/Schaumasse continues to be a reliable telescopic target, though it has faded to magnitude 10 following its peak earlier in the winter. It is best viewed from midnight into the early morning, where it will be riding reasonably high in the sky.

29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1

As always, keep an eye out for 29P. Technically listed at a challenging magnitude 13, this comet is famous for its sudden cryovolcanic outbursts. It can rapidly jump several magnitudes in brightness over a short period, suddenly bringing it within range of smaller amateur scopes.

Link here for further details of each comet and how to locate it: Visual Comets in the Future (Northern Hemisphere) (aerith.net)

Deep Sky (DSOs)

Deep Dive: The Beehive Cluster (M44 / Praesepe)

Also known by its Latin name Praesepe (meaning “manger”), Messier 44 (M44) is a prominent open star cluster located in the heart of the constellation Cancer. Ranking among the nearest star clusters to Earth at roughly 577 light-years away, it has been recognized since antiquity.

The Greek astronomer Ptolemy described it in the 2nd century AD as a “nebulous mass in the breast of Cancer,” which perfectly describes its diffuse, fuzzy appearance when viewed with the naked eye under dark skies. Later, M44 became one of the very first celestial objects studied by Galileo Galilei, who used his primitive telescope to resolve more than 40 individual stars within the haze—a remarkable achievement for the time.

🔭 Quick Facts


Constellation	Cancer
Distance	~577 light-years
Apparent Magnitude	+3.7
Mass	500–600 solar masses
Age	600–700 million years
Total Stars	~1,000

🧪 Structure and Stellar Population

M44 is closely related to the famous Hyades cluster in Taurus. Both share similar ages and proper motions through space, which is a strong indicator that they share a common origin.

The Beehive is rich in stellar diversity. It contains roughly 680 M-type red dwarfs, about 300 Sun like stars (F, G, and K type), and a handful of massive A type stars. Astronomers have also identified at least 11 white dwarfs hiding in the cluster, which are the ghostly remnants of massive B type stars that have already exhausted their fuel. Curiously, the cluster is quite deficient in brown dwarfs; it is highly likely that these low mass members have been stripped away from the cluster’s halo by tidal forces over millions of years.

⚖️ Dynamics and Evolution

Like many open clusters, M44 exhibits “mass segregation”—a dynamic process where heavier stars slowly drift toward the cluster core while lighter stars migrate outward.

Interestingly, recent research from Leicester University and Queen’s University Belfast suggests that M44 might actually be the merging remnant of two smaller clusters. This would neatly explain its unusually high star count. If this scenario is correct, the cluster’s structure is gravitationally unstable, and it is expected to completely disperse into the Milky Way within the next 10 million years.

🪐 Exoplanets in the Beehive

In 2012, astronomers made a groundbreaking discovery: two “Hot Jupiter” exoplanets (Pr0201b and Pr0211b) were found orbiting Sun like stars within M44. These were the very first confirmed detections of such planets inside an open star cluster. Follow up observations in 2016 revealed a second planet in one of the systems, confirming M44 as a site of active planetary systems and proving that planet formation is common even in densely packed stellar nurseries.

👁️ How to Observe

Naked Eye: From a dark sky site, look exactly halfway between the bright stars Castor/Pollux (in Gemini) and Regulus (in Leo). M44 will appear as a faint, hazy patch of light.
Binoculars / Small Telescope: Because the cluster is so large (nearly 90 arcminutes, or three times the width of the Full Moon), binoculars or a telescope using your lowest power eyepiece are the best tools. You will instantly resolve the haze into dozens of sparkling stars, including a few prominent members that shine with a distinct orange red hue against the blue white background.

ISS and other orbiting bits

🚀 ISS Overpasses

Date	Brightness (mag)	Start Time	Start Alt	Start Az	Highest Time	Highest Alt	Highest Az	End Time	End Alt	End Az	Pass Type
1 Mar	-2.8	04:58:12	32°	SSW	04:58:12	32°	SSW	05:01:04	10°	SE	visible
2 Mar	-1.4	04:13:22	18°	SE	04:13:22	18°	SE	04:14:26	10°	SE	visible
2 Mar	-1.7	05:46:23	12°	WSW	05:47:29	14°	SW	05:49:18	10°	S	visible
3 Mar	-1.8	05:01:37	17°	SSW	05:01:37	17°	SSW	05:03:14	10°	SSE	visible
12 Mar	-1.8	19:33:13	10°	S	19:34:58	16°	SSE	19:34:58	16°	SSE	visible
13 Mar	-1.5	18:47:13	10°	SSE	18:48:36	12°	SE	18:49:58	10°	ESE	visible
13 Mar	-2.0	20:21:36	10°	SW	20:23:17	24°	SSW	20:23:17	24°	SSW	visible
14 Mar	-2.7	19:34:46	10°	SW	19:37:46	29°	SSE	19:38:28	26°	SE	visible
14 Mar	-0.9	21:10:55	10°	WSW	21:11:28	14°	WSW	21:11:28	14°	WSW	visible
15 Mar	-2.2	18:48:03	10°	SSW	18:50:47	22°	SSE	18:53:30	10°	E	visible
15 Mar	-3.0	20:23:52	10°	WSW	20:26:30	43°	SSW	20:26:30	43°	SSW	visible
16 Mar	-3.3	19:36:51	10°	WSW	19:40:07	45°	SSE	19:41:26	29°	ESE	visible
16 Mar	-1.2	21:13:23	10°	W	21:14:25	18°	W	21:14:25	18°	W	visible
17 Mar	-2.9	18:49:52	10°	SW	18:53:02	37°	SSE	18:56:13	10°	E	visible
17 Mar	-3.4	20:26:16	10°	W	20:29:16	55°	SSW	20:29:16	55°	SSW	visible
18 Mar	-3.5	19:39:08	10°	WSW	19:42:29	57°	S	19:44:03	28°	ESE	visible
18 Mar	-1.3	21:15:50	10°	W	21:17:02	19°	W	21:17:02	19°	W	visible
19 Mar	-3.3	18:52:01	10°	WSW	18:55:20	52°	S	18:58:39	10°	E	visible
19 Mar	-3.3	20:28:39	10°	W	20:31:45	51°	SSW	20:31:45	51°	SSW	visible
20 Mar	-3.5	19:41:27	10°	W	19:44:48	57°	S	19:46:27	26°	ESE	visible
20 Mar	-1.2	21:18:18	10°	W	21:19:25	17°	WSW	21:19:25	17°	WSW	visible
21 Mar	-3.4	18:54:15	10°	W	18:57:37	59°	S	19:00:58	10°	E	visible
21 Mar	-2.8	20:31:00	10°	W	20:34:06	37°	SSW	20:34:06	37°	SSW	visible
22 Mar	-3.1	19:43:45	10°	W	19:47:02	45°	SSW	19:48:45	23°	SE	visible
22 Mar	-1.0	21:21:01	10°	WSW	21:21:44	13°	WSW	21:21:44	13°	WSW	visible
23 Mar	-3.2	18:56:29	10°	W	18:59:49	52°	S	19:03:07	10°	ESE	visible
23 Mar	-2.0	20:33:29	10°	W	20:36:12	22°	SSW	20:36:24	22°	SSW	visible
24 Mar	-2.3	19:46:04	10°	W	19:49:04	29°	SSW	19:51:04	16°	SSE	visible
25 Mar	-2.6	18:58:42	10°	W	19:01:53	37°	SSW	19:05:01	10°	SE	visible
25 Mar	-1.2	20:36:35	10°	WSW	20:38:00	12°	SW	20:38:45	11°	SSW	visible