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March 9: Callisto’s disappearing act
The Moon passes 0.7° south of the star Antares in the constellation Scorpius at 8 A.M. EDT.
Earlier in the morning, around 6 A.M. local daylight time, the pair hangs some 20° high in the south, with all of Scorpius’ long, curving tail visible above the horizon from midlatitudes. The waning gibbous Moon is still bright, but the light of 1st-magnitude Antares just above and to Luna’s left should still be visible. Through a telescope especially, that light will appear orange or red to the eye — this star is a cool, aging red giant whose temperature is lower than that of our Sun.
The Moon then reaches apogee, the farthest point from our planet in its orbit, at 9:43 A.M. EDT, when it will stand 251,273 miles (404,385 kilometers) from Earth.
Sunrise: 7:20 A.M.
Sunset: 7:02 P.M.
Moonrise: 1:48 A.M.
Moonset: 10:41 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (53%)
*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.
