Derekscope

• Your guide to the night sky this month, and a guide for binoculars, and telescope deaf owners, compiled by Derek Rowley.
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• Click the blue link below for more information;

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Astronomy Highlights for March 2026

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• Friday 27th February
  – The Moon will indeed pass close to Jupiter in Gemini.
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• Saturday 28th February
  – The Moon approaches to the Beehive Cluster (M44) in Cancer.
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• Binoculars may reveal the Beehive Cluster despite the Moon’s brightness.
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• Venus and Mercury will have a conjunction, where they’ll appear close in the sky, but they’ll be very near the Sun (in Aquarius/Pisces)
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• Difficult to see from Earth’s Northern Hemisphere, appearing low on the horizon just after sunset, though Venus’s brightness might help spot it.
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• BSL Version
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• The Moon will reach perigee, its closest point to Earth, at 23:03 / 11.03pm today, sits in the constellation Pisces (The Fishes).
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• The Moon will reach perigee, its closest point to Earth, at 23:03 / 11.03pm tonight.
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• the Moon will be in its First Quarter phase, meaning it will appear as a half-lit circle (exactly 50% illuminated) in the constellation Taurus (The Bull).
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• The moon will be in its First Quarter phase at 12:28pm.
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• The best time to observe the First Quarter Moon is in the afternoon and early evening, when it’s high in the sky and the surrounding sky is darker than during the middle of the day.
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• The contrast is especially good around sunset.
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• Lunar X and Lunar V
  Sunlight catches rims at lunar first quarter to create the bright V and X shapes.

• Best viewing time in the UK
  The feature remains visible for about 4 hours in total, beginning to fade as the sun rises higher on the lunar surface, typically fading completely by 11:30am.
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  Date:
  Tuesday 24th February 2026
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  Start formation (become visible):
  07:30 / 7.30am
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  Peak visibility (fully formed as best contrast):
  09:30 / 9.30am
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  Fade disappearing:
  11:30 / 11.30am
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  Visible:
  Difficult (viewing low on the horizon)
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• The Moon repeats its cycle every 29½ days, so these effects happen every month, just on slightly different dates – see the complete full timetable for 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030.
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• Equipment
  While sometimes visible with high-power binoculars, a telescope is recommended to see the fine detail of the crater rims forming the Lunar X and V.
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• Moon & Seven Sisters (M45) – the pair will be visible after dusk, high in the southwest sky.
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• They’ll remain visible for several hours before setting after midnight.
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• One of its moons (Ganymede) will come out from behind the planet.
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• It looks like a tiny dot of light slowly appearing beside Jupiter.
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• With a small telescope or big binoculars, you can see it slowly moving.
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• Mercury reaches its highest altitude in the evening sky.
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• This makes tonight one of the best evenings for UK observers to catch Mercury in twilight.
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• Just after sunset, look west – Mercury will be at its easiest to spot for this apparition, low in the western sky.
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• BSL Version

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