Another look at the ecliptic

Let's take a step back and look at the ecliptic some more.

The ecliptic is the imaginary line that is Earth's equator extended into space. A line that the Sun seems to follow -- as seen from Earth against the background stars of the zodiac.

The planets and the moon also seem to follow this imaginary line in their orbits which is why we have been -- and will be -- able to see the planets in occasional conjunction with each other.

These objects don't always meet up in their orbits because their orbit is often slightly at a tangent (or tilted) to the ecliptic line. Which is why they are occasionally either above or below each other when they do meet.

That tilt is also why we don't have an eclipse each time the Sun, Earth, and the moon line up.

There are also a few bright stars that are located either on or close to the ecliptic which receive visits from the moon and planets from time to time.

For example: on March 24, the moon passes Aldebaran in Taurus, the Bull (the Pleiades star cluster is there also), March 30, the moon passes Regulus in Leo, the Lion, and on April 4, Spica, the brightest star in Virgo, the Maiden.

We can also see planets passing close to these stars, and on occasion the moon will occult, or cover up, those stars.

Regulus will also receive a visit from Jupiter and Venus in late July and early August, the moon will also be in there somewhere.

Speaking of eclipses, there will be a total solar eclipse on March 20, but the only ones who will see it are all the eclipse chasers and a few Polar Bears who are gathered at the North Pole.

We can take some consolation with the total lunar eclipse on April 4, even if it does reach totality just after 0200 hours MDT.

For information on eclipses point your favorite web browser to: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/

It may be a ways off yet, but there will be a total solar eclipse in August of 2017 that will pass right across the middle of the United States -- especially Nebraska -- never hurts to plan ahead because from what I am reading motel and hotel reservations are already starting to pour in.

There will be a nice meeting of a just barely one-day old moon and Mars on Saturday, March 21. The pair will be about a half a degree from each other. Keep in mind that the moon itself is only one-half a degree wide.

Will also be a good time to look for Earthshine -- sunlight reflected off of Earth back onto the unlit portion of the lunar surface giving it a ghostly appearance, best seen in binoculars.

Something else that may be a few months in the future is the meeting of the robot spacecraft New Horizons and the planet Pluto. It is only 124 days before the tiny spacecraft flies by the distant planet and captures photographs of a member of the solar system we have never seen close up like we have all the rest of them.

To keep track of New Horizons go to: http://www.seeplutonow.com/ for information and a countdown clock until the photo session starts and the planet is left behind for further adventures in the Kuiper Belt of frozen objects at the extreme outer reaches of our solar system.

SKYWATCH: New moon, Friday, March 20. Remember, new moon means no moon visible. The planet Mars and a very young moon meet on the evening of March 21 and the moon catches up with Venus -- again -- on Sunday, March 22.

NEXT WEEK: More astronomical blathering.