Positions in the sky of Venus, Jupiter — and Mars

Venus and Jupiter remain close after their encounter two nights ago. Over the next few weeks, Venus rises higher and Jupiter drops closer to the horizon. Both planets stay in the constellation Aries the Ram in the second half of March.

After gazing at these two planets, turn around and face east. Mars climbs in the sky with the constellation Leo the Lion. It currently sits half way between Leo's bright star Regulus and the moderately bright star Denebola at the tip of the lion's tail. Make a note of where Mars lies with respect to Leo's stars. Mars moves slowly to the west until mid April when it makes a 180 and starts heading eastward.

This certainly emphasizes the expression, "March comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb."

Such is our view from Earth...