Four star clusters follow a narrow path near Canis Major, the big dog: Messier 46, 47, 48, and 50. They are in the south and southeast at nightfall. Look for Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, due south. The clusters spread to the left and upper left of Sirius.
Weekly Stargazing Tips
Provided by StarDate.org. Unless otherwise specified, viewing times are local time regardless of time zone, and are good for the entire Lower 48 states (and, generally, for Alaska and Hawaii).
March 12: Messier Highway
March 13: Adhara
To the eye, the brightest star in the night sky is Sirius, which is in the south at nightfall. If we could see ultraviolet light, however, the brightest star would be Adhara, a little below Sirius. It's quite hot, so it emits much of its light in the ultraviolet.
March 14: The Compass
Pyxis, the celestial compass, is quite low in the southeast at nightfall. It is a short streak of faint stars that aims toward the remnants of the Argo, the ship that carried Jason and the Argonauts.
March 15: Leo Triplet
A three-way tug-of-war is playing out in the constellation Leo, which is in the east at nightfall. Three galaxies there are tugging at one another, producing spectacular results. The galaxies are M65, M66, and NGC 3628, known as the Leo Triplet.
March 16: Zodiacal Light
From dark skywatching locations, a faint pyramid of light glows faintly in the west after nightfall the next few evenings. This dim glow is the zodiacal light, which is sunlight reflecting off of tiny grains of dust scattered around the inner solar system.
March 17: Virgo Cluster
The Virgo Cluster is a group of more than 1,500 galaxies about 55 million light-years away. It is centered near the border between Virgo and Leo, a spot that's low in the east at nightfall and climbs higher later on. Many of the galaxies are easy targets for small telescopes.
March 18: Messier 87
The heart of the galaxy Messier 87 features a monster black hole encircled by swirling hot gas. Powerful magnetic fields fire some of the gas outward as deadly radiation beams. M87 is low in the east by mid-evening, below Denebola, the tail of the lion.