Stargazers don’t have long to wait until the Northern Lights and an eclipse light up our skies at night. The mystical events are set to occur across the month of March and offer an array of colour and splendour.
This will be the first lunar eclipse since 2022 and it will be followed shortly by a partial solar eclipse. Sadly, these are only observable across North America.
According to Forbes, the best time to go stargazing this month is during March’s darkest evenings, which will be between March 22 and March 29. A crescent moon and venus are expected to appear after sunset on Saturday, March 1, in the western sky.
Wait for the twilight to fade to catch the planet Venus in all its glory. The moon will be lit by just 6 percent and will be close to Venus near the horizon. Come back 24 hours later and the moon will have doubled in size to 12 percent illumination.
The Northern Lights are to bless our skies after sunset a few weeks either side of Thursday, March 20. March 2025 may be the best month to spot the lights because our star will be close to “solar maximum”, which is the peak of its 11-year solar cycle.
On March 20, the vernal equinox puts the Earth’s axis perpendicular to the solar wind, which is known to cause a jump in aurora activity. These lights will be especially bright in the US, Canada and regions near the Arctic Circle.
There will also be a full moon and a bright Mars in the southern night sky on March 8. On Thursday, March 13, to Friday, March 14, stargazers should spot a Blood Moon total lunar eclipse.
This spectacular sight is expected to happen in the south to southwest night sky in North America. Starting from 10.57pm Eastern Standard Time, the full moon will pass through Earth’s shadow, reaching totality at around 2:26 a.m. For an impressive 65 minutes, the moon will appear in an eerie shade of orange and red — a result of sunlight filtering through Earth’s atmosphere.
Lastly, a deep partial solar eclipse is expected to paint the sky at sunrise on Saturday, March 29. Based in the eastern sky, this phenomenon will be seen in northeastern North America, eastern Canada and in part of Europe.
The US and states along the eastern coast will see a partially eclipsed sunrise. It comes as Brits were able to glimpse the crescent moon Friday evening, February 28.
Eager-eyed Brits were told to peer out west after sunset to see an exceptionally slim 1-1percent crescent moon. A crescent moon is a phase of the moon when less than half of its illuminated side is visible from Earth.
In the northern hemisphere, a new crescent moon appears as a backwards “C” shape whilst in the southern hemisphere, a new crescent moon appears as a regular “C” shape.
