What's Up in the Sky, March 2017

I had the opportunity to present the monthly What's Up in the Sky at the March 10 Orange County Astronomers meeting. I'm sharing a sequence of images and animation that I used to illustrate the zodiacal light and the tilt of the ecliptic.

A high angled ecliptic greets us in the evening, and a low one in morning, making the evening planets easier to see by being farther above the horizon:

So, an observer at 30 degrees north latitude sees this: The planets and zodiacal light are high.

The same observer in the morning will see the planets and zodiacal light at their lowest angle:

Here's the full sequence, including animations at the end:

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Transparent PNG versions:

This time of year is also a good time to see the winter Milky Way in the early evening. 

Below are some photos taken in February 2014 of the constellations Orion, Monoceros, Canis Major, Gemini and Cassiopeia, all in the winter Milky Way:

And last, Canopus, the 2nd brightest star, is visible below Sirius, the brightest:

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