It’s the best of all worlds, looking out from our world this month. March stargazing is fantastic because you still have Orion and all of the great winter constellations in the Butler evening skies, with the spring star patterns building in. Along with that there’s generally less chill in the air.

The Vernal Equinox, the beginning of astronomical spring, is at 11:06 March 19. At local noontime, the sun’s strongest rays fall directly on the equator, and both hemispheres on Earth experience nearly equal hours of nighttime and daytime.

In the sun’s relenting eastward push among the distant backdrop of stars, the sun begins a six-month stint north of the celestial equator. That means even warmer times are on the way for us!

Decent planet-watching is in short supply this month. Jupiter is the only planet easily visible to the naked eye in the evening, but it’s been given its walking papers. In early March, Jupiter starts out in the low west-southwest sky evening sky after evening twilight, but by the end of the month, it’ll be barely above the Western horizon at dusk.

Even though Jupiter is doing the long goodbye this month, it’s still the brightest star-like object in the night sky. From about March 15 to 25, the moderately bright planet Mercury will briefly appear in the latter part of evening twilight close to the Western horizon. It’ll be the next brightest star-like object you can see to the lower right of Jupiter.

Overall, the best evening stargazing this March will be the first three weeks because you won't have to compete with moonlight filling the sky. The full moon is on March 25 and is known by Southern Native American tribes as the Worm Moon. The March soil begins to thaw, and worms emerge from hiding. The Lenten Moon is another name for the March full moon because it precedes Easter Sunday. During the full moon, there’ll be what’s known as a penumbral eclipse.

It’s not nearly as dramatic as a regular lunar eclipse. Unless you have a keen vision, you probably won’t notice any darkening of the moon as the moon passes through the much lighter outer portion of the Earth’s shadow.

Orion the Hunter and the rest of the winter constellations are still the main attractions of the March evening sky. This will be their last stand as they begin their gradual exit in April. As darkness falls, which is now later in the evening,

Orion stands proudly in the southwestern sky. It’s one of the few constellations that doesn’t make you stretch your imagination too far out of shape. It really does resemble a mighty hunter or at least a bulked-up man.

The brightest stars are Rigel and Betelgeuse, respectively, at Orion’s knee and armpit. In between are the three brilliant stars evenly lined up in a perfect row that depicts Orion’s belt.

Orion travels through the heavens with the constellations Taurus the Bull, Auriga the Goat Farmer, Gemini the Twins, and Canis Major and Minor, Orion’s big and little hunting dogs. You owe it to yourself to get out into the dark countryside to see the best of the winter sky. It will take your breath away!

In the east, the spring constellations are on the rise. One of the first is Leo the Lion. Look for a distinctive backward question mark that outlines the chest and head of Leo the Lion. Regulus is the moderately bright star at the bottom of the question mark that marks the great lion’s heart.

As March continues, Leo will get higher and higher in the sky in the early evening as Orion and his gang sink lower and lower in the west. As Earth orbits the sun, the nightside of our world is turning toward the direction of the spring constellations like Leo and away from the wonderful winter constellations.

In the north sky, the Big Dipper stands on its handle at the start of the month. The fainter Little Dipper is off to the left, hanging by its handle. The brightest star, Polaris, also known as the North Star, shines at the end of the Little Dipper’s handle.

In the northwest sky, look for the bright sideways “W” that outlines Queen Cassiopeia tied up in her throne for all eternity!

Get ready for a big solar eclipse on April 8 next month! It'll be quite a show over a large chunk of North America, including roughly the eastern half of the United States. A total solar eclipse will be visible in a path that runs through parts of Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. It’s so worth traveling to see a total eclipse.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and retired broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is the author of "Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations," published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and adventurepublications.net. Contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.