Throughout March, look for Venus shining brilliantly in the western sky in the early evening hours. Meanwhile Jupiter, the second-brightest sky dot after Venus, rises in the east and shines down from the sky until the early morning hours.

Throughout March, look for Venus appearing in the west about 20 minutes after sunset. Shining at minus 4 magnitude, Venus looks as bright as an airplane. As it gets dark enough to see it, Venus will about a third of the way up in the west at dusk. The bright planet sets around 8:30 p.m. in early March and not until 9:15 p.m. at the end of the month. On March 22, look for a slender crescent moon just above Venus.

Throughout March, as it gets dark enough to see Venus in the west, look toward the east for Jupiter. Jupiter shines at minus 2.5 magnitude, about five times dimmer than Venus, but brighter than any other dot in the sky. At dusk in early March, Jupiter will be about a third of the way up in the east. By the end of the month, while Venus continues to hover a third of the way up in the west at first darkness, Jupiter will be much higher than it was at the start of March, about two-thirds of the way up in the eastern sky. In early March, Jupiter will be high overhead at 11 p.m. and will set in the west at 5:30 a.m., just a few minutes before dawn’s early light. By the end of March, Jupiter passes overhead at 9 p.m. and sets by 3:20 a.m.

Jupiter begins and ends the month with the moon next to it in our skies; look for the waxing moon next to Jupiter on the night of March 2-3 and again on the night of March 29-30.

Mars hangs on

Mars is coming to the end of a remarkable evening run. Ever since September, the planet has emerged in the west at dusk and set by mid-evening. The run is almost over. By the end of April, Mars will be lost in the light of the sun and will not re-emerge until it appears in the morning sky in August.

Mars will still be easy to find in early March, since it will hang below Venus like a pendant. Find Venus in the west around 7:30 p.m., and then look for the reddish dot of Mars about four degrees below it. (Four degrees is the width of two fingers at arm’s length.)

Venus, by the way, is now about 100 times brighter than Mars. The red planet sets just before 8:30 p.m. early in the month, about 10 minutes before Venus.

As the month goes on, Mars will appear farther away from Venus every night. By March 15 the red planet will be 8 degrees below Venus, or the width of four fingers. Mars will also set by 8:15 p.m. in the middle of the month. By the end of March, Mars will be a full 16 degrees below Venus, and will be only about six degrees above the west horizon (three fingers) as it emerges from the twilight around 7:35 p.m., setting a mere 25 minutes later. On March 21 look for a slender crescent moon low in the west around 7:30 p.m., just above Mars and below Venus.

Saturn, Mercury

Saturn is not as bright as Venus or Jupiter, but there is an easy way to find it this March. Look for the ringed planet rising in the southeast around 12:45 a.m. at the start of March and by 10:45 p.m. at month’s end.

The planet shines nicely at 0.5 magnitude. One big help in finding it this March: Saturn is in the claw of Scorpius the Scorpion all month. This famous constellation has four stars that mark off the claw of the scorpion, or the top of the fishhook if you see it as Maui’s fishhook. Saturn is a fifth dot of light in that claw (or that fishhook top), to the left of the others.

Saturn does move against the starry background like any planet, but since Saturn is far from the sun it moves slowly, and it will stay in its position as a fifth star in the scorpion’s claw all month. Look for the waning gibbous moon next to Saturn on the morning of March 12.

As viewed from the Hawaiian Islands, Mercury appears in the east just before dawn for the first two weeks of March. Look for Mercury rising at 5:30 a.m. in the east-southeast, shining brightly at zero magnitude. Day breaks about 45 minutes after Mercury rises as seen from our latitude, so you will lose it by 6:15 a.m. By the middle of March, we’ll lose Mercury in the light of the sun.

Early warning

A total lunar eclipse will be visible in the Hawaiian Islands early April 4.

The unique thing about this eclipse is that the total phase will be extraordinarily short, lasting only four minutes, from 1:58 to 2:02 a.m. on April 4. During the total phase, the entire moon goes into the dark inner shadow of Earth, and the moon turns dark or even "blood red." More typically, the total phase of an average lunar eclipse runs about an hour. On the other hand, the partial phase that leads up to this brief total phase will be nearly 1¾ hours long, running from 12:15 a.m. until the total phase starts at 1:58 a.m. During this time, more of the moon will be dimmed by Earth’s shadow falling on the moon. The Hawaiian Islands are well-placed to get a view of this total lunar eclipse from start to finish, 12:15 to 3:44 a.m.

Given the lateness of the hour and the fact that this occurs over the Easter holiday weekend, when we would not expect a strong turnout, Bishop Museum will not be doing an eclipse event on April 4. However, it’s a great "do it yourself" event.