By Edna DeVore SETI Director of Education posted: 06:15 am ET
Venus, the brightest planet, has graced the western skies at sunset for months and is at its most brilliant in early March. On March 30, Venus is in conjunction with the Sun. This means that Venus is in the same direction as the Sun when seen from Earth. (It won't actually cross the face of the Sun; that rare event is called a transit. Rather, it will pass 8 degrees north of the Sun.) Careful sky watchers might see Venus both at sunset on March 30 and at sunrise on March 31 when Venus becomes a "morning star."
Jupiter, the second-brightest planet, begins to take over the evening sky as Venus leaves. Brilliantly white, Jupiter appears halfway up the sky at sunset throughout March. Compared to Jupiter, Saturn is yellowish and dimmer. Saturn appears farther to the west, beyond the tightly grouped cluster of stars known as the Pleiades, or the seven sisters. (Many people mistake this tiny cluster for the "Little Dipper" asterism, which is actually a much wider grouping of stars that is part of the constellation Ursa Minor, which is located in the northern sky.) As April passes, Jupiter and Saturn will be found lower in the western skies at sunset.