Skynotes: March 2026

Autumn Equinox

On Saturday 21st we reach equinox – Autumn Equinox in the southern hemisphere and Spring (or Vernal) Equinox in the northern hemisphere. At this time, Earth’s axis being tilted by 23.5 degrees from in its orbital path leans neither toward nor away from the Sun. For mid-latitudes such as Melbourne we experience almost equal hours of day and night. 

At an equinox we are midway between summer and winter. At this time in mid-latitudes the sun’s rays are not at winter’s low angle that gives least warmth, nor summer’s high angle that provides greater warmth. At the equinox the daytime path of the Sun lies midway between its solstice extremes of winter when it is low and short with fewer hours in the day, and summer when it is high and long with more hours in the day.    

See
March Equinox
Equinox: Almost Equal Day and Night.

Total Lunar Eclipse 

Weather permitting, on Tuesday 3rd Melbourne will experience a total lunar eclipse with a maximum lasting about an hour as the moon moves through the darkest part of Earth’s shadow. A clear view to the east will show a full moon at the start of the event followed by it slowly being ‘eaten’ over two hours as it enters Earth’s outer shadow or penumbra. The total eclipse will follow for almost an hour as the moon moves through the inner shadow or umbra. Then a little over an hour of partial eclipse will follow as the Moon moves through the penumbra again, after which the bright full moon will return.

Melbourne eclipse timings for Tuesday 3rd

Partial Eclipse from: 8:50pm
Total Eclipse begins: 10:04pm 
Eclipse maximum: 10:33pm
Total Eclipse ends: 11:02pm
Partial Eclipse ends: 12:17am (4 March)

See
2–3 March 2026 Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)

A diagram of Sun, Earth and Moon and the umbra and penumbra shadows cast by the Earth through which the moon can pass during a total lunar eclipse. Credit: Lunar and Planetary Institute.

If Sun, Earth and Moon line up once a month to produce a full moon, why don’t Lunar Eclipses occur every time? The answer is that the moon’s orbit is tilted and that causes it to frequently miss the Earth’s shadow by passing   above or below it. It is only occasionally that the Sun-Earth-Moon line up is exact enough for an eclipse.   

Enjoy 
What is a Lunar Eclipse?
PBS Lunar Eclipses Explained
Eclipses and the Moon - NASA Science

Melbourne Sun times 

*When the sun is at its highest, crossing the meridian or local longitude.  

Moon Phases

Moon Distance

Wednesday 11th is lunar apogee (furthest from Earth) at 404,385 km. 

Sunday 22nd is lunar perigee (nearest to Earth) at 366,857 km.

Planets

Mercury is about to enter Inferior Solar Conjunction and therefore be in front of the Sun and not visible, but by late March it will reappear in the early morning sky in the east from around 5am. 

Venus has passed Superior Solar Conjunction but is not yet visible in our night sky.    

Mars will soon go through solar conjunction and not be visible as a night sky object.  

Jupiter remains an evening object visible from around 10pm in the north-east before fading in the north-west by 1:30am. On the evening of 3rd Jupiter should be visible in the north-east during that evening’s total lunar eclipse.   

Saturn is not visible this month as it nears solar conjunction.  

Meteors 

The alpha-centaurids and beta-centaurids are active from 2nd to 25th peaking on the 8th. They are different but it is difficult to distinguish between them. Occurring low in the south near the Two Pointers, they are not strong showers but often have fireballs and persistent trails. 25 per hour can occur but six per hour has been more usual. 

See
TheSky.com – Alpha Centaurids

Stars and constellations

In the East

High in the sky is Sirius, the brightest star at night and the principal star in Canis Major (Greater Dog). This is one of Orion’s two hunting dogs which is why Sirius is also referred to as The Dog Star. Directly below Sirius is the star Procyon which marks the location of Canis Minor, Orion’s lesser dog.

Many cultures have recognised the first evening appearance of Sirius as marking a special time during the year for religious, agricultural or other reasons. It sits 8.6 light years away making it the fifth nearest system to us and its energy output reflects a name appropriately derived from the Greek seirios, meaning glowing or scorching.

Sirius is, however, a binary system. Sirius A is twice the mass of our sun, almost 17 times as large and 25 times as luminous. Small faint Sirius B, however, was once a star similar to our Sun but in its late evolution it lost its outer layers to leave behind an extremely hot dense remnant core, a white dwarf, a little smaller than the Earth but with the mass almost that of the Sun. Sirius A and B orbit their mutual centre of mass every 50 years.

In the North to North-West

Directly north lies Orion, the hunter, seen in the southern hemisphere upside down. The famous three stars of his belt are Mintaka, Alnilam and Alnitak.

From his belt and going upper right is a line of stars which forms his scabbard, in the centre of which is the beautiful Orion Nebula, a vast stellar nursery 1500 light years from us. Upper left in Orion is the blue-white supergiant star Rigel (one of his feet) and lower right is the red supergiant Betelgeuse (one of his shoulders).

Orion’s three belt stars also mark the base of the southern hemisphere’s Saucepan asterism.

To the north-west is the open star cluster the Hyades 153 light years away and forms the inverted V of the head of Taurus, the bull. The red-giant star Aldebaran at its lower right corner is much closer to us at 65 light years.

To the left is the Pleiades, a close cluster of young blue stars 430 light years from us. These stars formed together and are gravitationally bound together, although over millions of years it is expected the cluster will slowly disperse. Also known as The Seven Sisters, and for many cultures it represents a group of women.

In the South-East to South-West

The Southern Cross and the Two Pointers, (Alpha & Beta Centauri) are low in the south-east. In the south-west are the two small nearby galaxies, the Magellanic Clouds, named in honour of 16th century explorer Ferdinand Magellan who embarked on the first circumnavigation of the globe. They look like faint fuzzy patches but are best seen away from city lights. The earliest known physical depictions of them are in petroglyphs in South America.

Arcing across the night sky, and slowly wheeling as the Earth rotates during the night to the east, is the majestic Milky Way - billions of distant stars of our galaxy.

In visible light our view of the galaxy is largely restricted to our local spiral arm which is one of several that sit in the disc of the galaxy. We are looking ‘edge on’ into the flat disc of billions of stars. By contrast, the two darker sides of the night sky a view out of the galactic plane. In those directions we seen far fewer stars for a few thousand light years before intergalactic space begins.

International Space Station

ISS orbits every 90 minutes at an average distance of 400 km. It appears like a bright star moving slowly across the night sky.

Some bright passes are below for the Melbourne region.

Morning

Wednesday 18th 6:29am to 6:35am, West-North-West to South-East.

Thursday 19th 5:44am-5:48am North to South-East.

Heavens Above gives predictions for visible passes of space stations and major satellites, live sky views and 3D visualisations. Be sure first to enter your location under ‘Configuration’.

On this day