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March 10: The Moon visits red giant Antares
Last Quarter Moon occurs at 5:39 A.M. EDT this morning, a few hours before the Moon sets shortly before local noon.
Once again, our evening sky is clear of moonlight, setting the stage to view the zodiacal light after sunset. This soft glow, generated by the dust left behind as comets round the Sun, is visible in the evening at this time of year, rising up from the western horizon. Roughly cone-shaped, it is wider at the base and narrower the higher into the sky it reaches, stretching up through Pisces, Aries, and into Taurus. Wait about 60 to 90 minutes after sunset, when the light of true twilight has faded, to look for this ethereal glow, sometimes called the false dusk.
This month is a particularly great time to try to view this phenomenon, as it’s best seen around the equinoxes, when the ecliptic — the plane of the solar system, along which the dust responsible for the zodiacal light has settled — is nearly vertical with respect to the horizon.
Sunrise: 7:18 A.M.
Sunset: 7:03 P.M.
Moonrise: 2:46 A.M.
Moonset: 11:28 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (43%)
*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.
