What's Up for March 2026: Skywatching Tips from NASA | JPL

What's Up for March 2026: Skywatching Tips from NASA | JPL

Here are examples of skywatching highlights for the northern hemisphere in March 2026:

A total lunar eclipse blood moon takes center stage, Venus and Saturn cozy up for a conjunction, and we celebrate the vernal equinox. 

0:00 Intro

0:12 Total lunar eclipse

1:22 Venus + Saturn conjunction

1:57 Vernal equinox

2:39 March Moon phases

Blood Moons can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are exactly or very closely aligned with Earth between the other two. During these rare events, the full Moon rapidly darkens and then glows red as it enters the Earth's shadow. A small amount of indirect sunlight is still reaching the Moon, passing through Earth's atmosphere, resulting in a reddish hue. This light appears reddish due to the Rayleigh scattering of blue light—the same reason sunrises and sunsets are more orange than during the day.

Video Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Duration: 3 minutes
Release Date: March 2, 2026

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