Planets of the Month: March 2022

By Erich Karkoschka
Mercury finishes its morning apparition during the first week of March.  On the 2nd it passes the fainter Saturn less than 1 degree south of it.
Venus and Mars stay within 5 degrees of each other.  Their minimum distance is 4 degrees on the 15th.  They rise well before dawn starts.
On the 29th, Venus passes Saturn 2 degrees north of it. Venus is at greatest western elongation on the 20th as spring starts.  In a telescope it appears as half a disk.  
Slower Mars will pass Saturn on the 4th of April 0.3 degrees south.  The last week of March is a good time to watch the triangle of Venus, Mars,
and Saturn changing shape from day to day.  
March has two New Moons, on the 2nd and 31st.  It is visible on the 3rd as a very slim crescent at bright dusk.  The almost Full Moon is close to Regulus on the evening of the 15th and close to the trio of planets in the morning sky on the 28th.  It is still
visible on the 29th and possibly on the 30th to the lower right of
Jupiter.
Jupiter joins the other morning planets on the 26th, but only poorly visible near the horizon.
Saturn may not be visible naked eye on the 2nd, but will rise earlier and earlier.  By the end of the month, it will rise together with Venus and Mars.
Uranus is the only planet in the evening sky.  You can find it with binoculars in Aries.