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Sky Digest

Tuesday, 3 March 2026 | Default Location
Showing the sky from Greenwich, London. Log in to use your own location.
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Tonight at a Glance

Full Moon 100%
Dark window: 18:51 – 05:08 (10 h 16 m)

Bright moon tonight — deep-sky viewing will be limited

Aurora Forecast — Unlikely

Kp 6.3 / need 7 Bz -3.5 nT

Need Kp 7+ (currently 6.3). Watch for geomagnetic storm upgrades.

View full forecast

Planet Highlights

Jupiter mag -2.5 · 60° alt · Gemini Details
GRS transit tonight:
Io Occultation ends
Europa Shadow transit begins

Total Lunar Eclipse

Moon's ecliptic latitude: -0.36°

View on Star Map

For Beginners (naked eye)

M44
Beehive Cluster or Praesepe Open Cluster
mag 3.7

At 21:00 look high in the southeast

Cancer
NGC 2232
Open Cluster
mag 3.9

At 21:00 look halfway up in the southwest

Mon
Hyades
Open Cluster
mag 0.5

At 21:00 look halfway up in the southwest

Taurus

Binocular Targets

R Leo
Variable Star
mag 6.0

At 21:00 look halfway up in the southeast

Leo
M47
NGC 2422 Open Cluster
mag 4.4

At 21:00 look low in the south

Puppis
M42
Great Orion Nebula Nebula
mag 4.0

At 21:00 look halfway up in the southwest

Orion

Small Scopes (3–6 inch)

Castor
HIP 36850; Alpha Gem; 66 Gem Double Star
mag 2.0

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Gem
C58
NGC 2360 Open Cluster
mag 7.2

At 21:00 look low in the south

Canis Major
Blue Snowball
NGC 7662 Planetary Nebula
mag 9.0

At 21:00 look low in the northwest

And
M81
Bode's Galaxy Galaxy
mag 6.9

At 21:00 look high in the northeast

Ursa Major
R Cnc
Variable Star
mag 7.1

At 21:00 look high in the south

Cnc

Big Scopes (8–12 inch)

Z Cam
Variable Star
mag 10.0

At 21:00 look high in the north

Cam
NGC 2432
Open Cluster
mag 10.0

At 21:00 look low in the south

Pup
Eskimo Nebula
NGC 2392 Planetary Nebula
mag 9.2

At 21:00 look high in the south

Gemini
C7
NGC 2403 Galaxy
mag 8.4

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Camelopardalis
T Tau
Variable Star
mag 9.3

At 21:00 look halfway up in the west

Tau

The Week Ahead

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Full Moon Ursa Major Best Placed

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Flying over the North Pole of Mars

If you could fly over the North Pole of Mars, what would you see?  Images from ESA’s Mars Express mission in 2019 were compiled into the featured video which shows just such a trip. First you see below you a landscape tinted orange by rusted iron in the fine soil, with some land appearing darker due to exposed rock. Soon the northern polar cap comes into view, mostly white because of its reflective frozen water. Surrounding the polar cap is the North Polar Basin, a layered depression covered with dust and sand. The frames in the featured video were captured during northern Martian Spring when the carbon-dioxide ice is evaporating, leaving the underlying water-ice in the cap. Mars Express continues to study the Martian surface and look for clues about the Red Planet's ancient climate and potential for life.

APOD is a service of NASA and Michigan Tech. U.

View on NASA APOD

Space News

NASA’s X-59 Experimental Supersonic Aircraft Makes Second Flight

NASA's X-59 experimental supersonic aircraft completed its second flight, initiating a series of dozens of test flights planned for 2026 to demonstrate quiet supersonic flight technology.

NASA — 20 Mar 2026

NASA Simulations Improve Artemis II Launch Environment

NASA used advanced simulations to optimize launch conditions for Artemis II, analyzing airflow effects on the rocket to ensure the best possible conditions for this crewed test flight around the Moon.

NASA — 20 Mar 2026

Meet the Platypi: NASA’s Newest Astronaut Candidate Class

NASA's newest astronaut candidate class of ten explorers, selected in 2025, are training at Johnson Space Center for future missions to the ISS, Moon, and beyond.

NASA — 19 Mar 2026

How Open NASA Data on Comet 3I/ATLAS Will Power Tomorrow’s Discoveries

NASA's observations of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS from more than a dozen science missions will be preserved in public data archives as the comet leaves our solar system permanently.

NASA — 20 Mar 2026

Kepler's Laws Come Alive

Drag velocity vectors to reshape orbits, watch equal areas sweep in equal times, and discover why distant planets orbit slower — all three laws animated in real time.

Kepler's Laws Come Alive Open Kepler's Laws

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