A thin crescent moon will appear low on the horizon at sunset on Wednesday, March 22. The moon will appear right next to the planet Jupiter. You'll need an unobscured view of the southwestern sky at sunset.

More folks will see the moon the following evening, when the moon is higher and closer to the bright planet Venus. All three celestial objects are in the zodiacal constellation Aries.

If you are so lucky as to see Jupiter this coming week, consider it a "last time." Jupiter continues to get closer and closer to the setting sun. The next time you'll see Jupiter will probably be next month when it is a morning planet.

First Day of Spring

Spring arrives on Monday at 5:24 p.m. The best evidence of the changing season is in the length of the day and night. The length of day and night almost match. For Martha's Vineyard, sunrise and sunset are identical in time today, March 17, when sunrise and sunset are both at 5:50. The reason for the discrepancy and why sunrise and sunset are the same on March 20 has to do with our atmosphere. The Earth's atmosphere along the horizon bends light. Visually sunrise appears to happen earlier and sunset appears to happen later. Were Earth to have no atmosphere, the time of sunrise and sunset would be precisely 12 hours apart on March 20.