{"id":3130,"date":"2026-03-01T11:10:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T11:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/?p=3130"},"modified":"2026-03-01T11:12:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T11:12:45","slug":"griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-march-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/2026\/03\/01\/griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-march-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Griffith Observatory Sky Report through March, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Click<\/strong><\/a>LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/MAR_2026_Sky_Report.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the period between March 1 and March 31, 2026. Here are the events happening in the sky of southern California.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mercury<\/b><\/span><\/span> starts March close to the sun and is not safe to observe. On the 20<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/sup><\/span>, the planet rises in the east at 5:58 a.m., PDT, and the sun rises at 6:57 a.m., PDT, 59 minutes later. Mercury is 22-percent illuminated and 9.9 arcseconds wide. On the 31<\/span><\/span>st<\/span><\/sup><\/span>, Mercury rises in the east at 5:36 a.m., PDT, and the sun rises at 6:42 a.m., PDT, one hour six minutes later. Mercury is 44-percent illuminated and 8.1 arcseconds wide. Do not observe any planet when it appears close to the sun, for the danger to the eyes is great.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Venus<\/b><\/span><\/span> sets in the west at 6:50 p.m., PST, on the 1<\/span><\/span>st<\/span><\/sup><\/span>, and the sun sets at 5:50 p.m., PST, one hour earlier. Venus is 98-percent illuminated and 10 arcseconds wide. On the 31<\/span><\/span>st<\/span><\/sup><\/span>, the sun sets at 7:13 p.m., PDT, and Venus sets in the west-northwest at 8:50 p.m., PDT, one hour 37 minutes later. The planet is 94-percent illuminated and 11 arcseconds wide. Do not observe any planet when it appears close to the sun, for the danger to the eyes is great.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mars<\/b><\/span><\/span> is close to the sun throughout March and not safe to observe.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jupiter<\/b><\/span><\/span> is in the constellation Gemini the Twins. On the 1<\/span><\/span>st<\/span><\/sup><\/span>, Jupiter sets in the west-northwest at 3:32 a.m., PST. On the 31<\/span><\/span>st<\/span><\/sup><\/span>, the planet sets in the west-northwest at 2:36 a.m., PDT. A telescope capable of magnification 50x will show the Red Spot, and the four bright Galilean moons can be seen moving back and forth, across and behind Jupiter.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Saturn<\/b><\/span><\/span> is close to the sun throughout March and not safe to observe.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Uranus<\/b><\/span><\/span> is in the constellation Taurus the Bull. On the 1<\/span><\/span>st<\/span><\/sup><\/span>, Uranus sets in the west-northwest at 11:57 p.m., PST. On the 31<\/span><\/span>st<\/span><\/sup><\/span>, the planet sets at 11:00 p.m., PDT. On the 15<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/sup><\/span>, Uranus is at Right Ascension 3<\/span><\/span>h<\/span><\/sup><\/span> 43<\/span><\/span>m<\/span><\/sup><\/span> 36<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/sup><\/span> with a declination of +19<\/span><\/span>\u00b0<\/span><\/span> 34<\/span><\/span>\u02b9<\/span><\/span> 4<\/span><\/span>\u02ba<\/span><\/span>. The disk of Uranus is only 3.5 arcseconds wide, and so a telescope with a magnification of 150x is needed.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Neptune<\/b><\/span><\/span> is in the constellation Pisces the Fishes. On the 1<\/span><\/span>st<\/span><\/sup><\/span>, Neptune sets in the west at 7:20 p.m., PST, one hour 30 minutes after the sun sets, with a disk 2.2 arcseconds wide. On the 7<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/sup><\/span>, the sun sets at 5:55 p.m., PST, and Neptune sets at 6:58 p.m., PST, one hour three minutes after the sun sets. After the 7<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/sup><\/span>, Neptune is close to the sun for the rest of March and not safe to observe. The position of Neptune on the 15<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/sup><\/span> is Right Ascension 0<\/span><\/span>h<\/span><\/sup><\/span> 7<\/span><\/span>m<\/span><\/sup><\/span> 48<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/sup><\/span> with a declination of
\n-0<\/span><\/span>\u00b0<\/span><\/span> 34<\/span><\/span>\u02b9<\/span><\/span> 38<\/span><\/span>\u02ba<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The moon<\/b><\/span><\/span> is full on the 3<\/span><\/span>rd<\/span><\/sup><\/span>, last quarter on the 11<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/sup><\/span>, new on the 18<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/sup><\/span>, and first quarter on the 25<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/sup><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

SPECIAL EVENTS<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Daylight Saving Time<\/b><\/span><\/span> begins on Sunday, March 8<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/sup><\/span>, at 2:00 a.m., PST. All clocks must be set forward one hour, according to the saying, \u201cSpring forward, fall back.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Spring begins <\/b><\/span><\/span>in the earth\u2019s northern hemisphere (and autumn in the southern hemisphere) at 7:46 a.m., PDT, on March 20. At this precise moment, when the sun reaches the point where the ecliptic crosses the celestial equator, it moves from south to north. The point where <\/span><\/span>and the time when the sun crosses the celestial equator to the north is the vernal equinox. Spring ends with the summer solstice on June 21.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a> A total lunar eclipse<\/b><\/span><\/span> occurs on the 3<\/span><\/span>rd<\/span><\/sup><\/span>. During this eclipse, the moon will be well within the umbra part of earth\u2019s shadow, the inner darker portion of the shadow. The moon enters the outer part of earth\u2019s shadow, called the penumbra, at 12:44 a.m., PST. The moon enters the umbra part of earth\u2019s shadow at 1:50 a.m., PST, and is completely in the umbra at 3:04 a.m., PST. Mid-eclipse is at 3:34 a.m., PST. The moon starts to exit the umbra at 4:03 a.m., PST, and is completely out of the umbra at 5:17 a.m., PST. Griffith Observatory will hold a web broadcast, but the observatory and Griffith park will be closed to the public.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Griffith Observatory normally provides free public sky observing day and night\u2013weath\u00ader permitting\u2013through a variety of telescopes. Currently, the Observatory is open Tuesday through Sunday. To plan a visit to the Observatory, please see our website (https:\/\/griffithobservatory.lacity.gov\/<\/a>) for the latest information. The Sky Report, also available on the website, pro\u00advides monthly observing information.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/MAR_2026_Sky_Report.mp3 This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the period between March 1 and March 31, 2026. Here are the events happening in the sky of southern California. Mercury starts March close to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3130","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\/3130","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\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3130"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3139,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3130\/revisions\/3139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}