What’s Up in the Nights Sky March 21st 2015

In twilight, look west well below Venus for a very thin waxing crescent Moon close to Mars, as shown here. The Moon is just one day old following yesterday’s solar eclipse. We see the Moon’s night side (dimly Earthlit), and just a little of the sunlit side around the edge, because the Moon is nearly along our line of sight to the Sun. Faraway Mars shows us mostly its day side, because it’s nearly on the same line of sight on the far side of the Sun. Tomorrow evening the Moon will be beautifully paired with Venus; make a note to look.