{"id":2226,"date":"2018-02-28T23:05:03","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T23:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/?p=2226"},"modified":"2018-02-28T23:05:03","modified_gmt":"2018-02-28T23:05:03","slug":"griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-march-7-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/2018\/02\/28\/griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-march-7-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Griffith Observatory Sky Report through March 7, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Click<\/strong><\/a>LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Sky_Report_2-28-18.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through March 7, 2018. Here\u2019s what\u2019s happening in the skies of southern California.<\/p>\n

The first full moon of the month happens on Thursday, March 2nd, at 4:51 p.m., only 51 minutes before it rises at Los Angeles. The moon will be full again on the 31st. The second full moon in a calendar month is called a blue moon. Although blue moons usually occur only every two or three years, we last had a blue moon in January this year, but after this month\u2019s blue moon, another won\u2019t occur until October 2020.<\/p>\n

The moon rises about 35 minutes later each successive night, so that by March 7, it won\u2019t be seen until 11:52 p.m. It will remain in waning gibbous phase until it reaches last quarter on March 9.<\/p>\n

The brilliant planet Venus can be seen above the western horizon shortly after sunset. By 6:30 p.m., the sky will be dark enough to see the innermost planet, Mercury, to the right of Venus. Mercury is within one degree of Venus through March 3rd, and it strays no more than four degrees to the upper right of Venus through March 20th.<\/p>\n

Between 3:00 a.m. and dawn, the three bright planets beyond Earth\u2019s orbit can be seen in a line that tilts up to the right from the southeastern horizon. These include Jupiter, in the constellation Libra the Scales, Mars, in Ophiuchus the Serpent-Bearer, and Saturn, in Sagittarius the Archer. Orange Mars is located between golden Saturn (at lower left), and Jupiter, the brightest of the trio.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s first test space station, Tiangong-1, has been abandoned for years, and it is expected to make a fiery reentry into Earth\u2019s atmosphere in early April or sooner. The doomed satellite will make visible passes over Los Angeles on February 28, March 1, and March 2. Wednesday\u2019s pass will last from 7:03 to 7:05 p.m., when the satellite will appear similar to a bright moving star as it ascends straight up from the west-southwestern horizon until it reaches an elevation of 60 degrees and then suddenly vanishes into Earth\u2019s shadow. On Thursday night, the satellite will appear above the west-northwestern horizon at 6:55 p.m. and travels through the northern sky. It will reach its highest point, 49 degrees above the north-northwestern horizon, at 6:58 p.m. Less than a minute later it will enter Earth\u2019s shadow. On Friday night, Tiangong-1 may be seen from 6:47 to 6:50 p.m., but this time it never exceeds the brightness of any of the Big Dipper\u2019s stars. It will travel from the west to the north-northeast, and it will reach its highest point, 30 degrees high in the north-northwest, at 6:49 p.m.<\/p>\n

Free views of the Sun during the day and of the moon and other interesting celestial objects at night are available to the public in clear weather through Griffith Observatory\u2019s telescopes from Tuesday through Sunday, before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for the schedule. The next free public star party<\/a> on the grounds of Griffith Observatory, hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, will take place on Saturday, March 24th.<\/p>\n

Follow the Sky Report on Twitter<\/a> for updates of astronomy and space-related events.<\/p>\n

From Griffith Observatory, I\u2019m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report http:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Sky_Report_2-28-18.mp3   This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through March 7, 2018. Here\u2019s what\u2019s happening in the skies of southern California. The first full moon of the month happens on Thursday, March 2nd, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-skyreport"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2226"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2231,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2226\/revisions\/2231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}