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March 11: Time to spot the zodiacal light
Europa transits Jupiter this evening, beginning shortly before 10 P.M. EDT. A few hours later, the small moon’s shadow follows it across as a dark blot on the cloud tops.
Early in the evening, Jupiter — in Gemini — is high in the south, outshining the Twins’ brightest two stars, Castor and Pollux. Observers in the Eastern and Central time zones can center their scope on the bright planet to see Europa approaching the eastern limb. Callisto lies alone far to the east, while Io (closest) and Ganymede sit to Jupiter’s west.
Europa finally crosses in front of the disk around 9:40 P.M. EDT, moving from east to west. Observers in the Mountain time zone will see the event already underway as darkness falls. About an hour and a half later, the icy moon is halfway across the disk. Around midnight EDT, with Europa quickly approaching the western limb, its shadow finally appears at the eastern limb.
Europa leaves the western limb around 12:30 A.M. EDT (now the 13th in the Eastern time zone only), leaving its shadow to transit the disk alone. An hour later, the shadow is halfway across the disk, and it finally reaches the limb shortly before 3 A.M. EDT.
Sunrise: 7:16 A.M.
Sunset: 7:04 P.M.
Moonrise: 3:39 A.M.
Moonset: 12:22 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (34%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location.
