Vernal equinox, BST, Jupiter, 29P, Leo and galaxy season
by Mark Phillips
Using data from Dominic Ford’s in-the-sky.org and other sources
The Vernal / Spring / March Equinox happens on Friday, 20 March 2026, 14:46 GMT when we will have equal amounts of light and darkness. British Summertime follows on when the clocks go forward 1 hour on 29 March at 01:00 GMT.
Jupiter 2026-02-17 M. Phillips
This month there is another total Lunar eclipse but sadly not visible from Edinburgh. We will have to wait until 28 August for a partial Lunar eclipse, but that will also be low down and tricky.
Jupiter is still nicely placed for us, the brightest and most interesting planet on display. Always fascinating to follow its satellites, cloud belts and features as they change throughout the night. Rotating on its axis in just under 10 hours means you can watch features such as the Gread Red Spot clearly move in just a few minutes.
As the constellation of Leo starts to take centre stage in our night sky and heralds the beginning of Spring, it also takes us into what we sometimes call Galaxy Season. Just look at the number galaxies (the red shapes) in this chart from Cartes du Ciel. The main clusters of galaxies you can see are the Leo, Virgo and Coma clusters. The Leo and Coma clusters are part of the Coma Supercluster, which contains more than 3,000 galaxies in all.
Leo, Coma and Virgo galaxy clusters
There are two well-known groups of galaxies in Leo:
- The Leo triplet consists of the spiral galaxies M65, M66, and NGC 3628.
- The M96 group which contains M95, M96 and M105 plus some fainter NGC galaxies.
To see these visually requires a decent telescope but you will still not be able to make out the sort of details that you can see in images like these, taken with our telescope in Spain.
Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
Orbit of comet 29P, in-the-sky.org
This is an interesting comet that we like to follow in the ASE and it reaches opposition – the point directly opposite the Sun as seen from Earth – on 11 March in the constellation of Leo. It exhibits regular strong outbursts, the result of sudden eruptions at the surface of the nucleus, happening 20-30 times each year. It may not look to be the most dramatic comet but it is certainly one of the more interesting to observe. It also goes around the Sun in a planet-like orbit between Jupiter and Saturn, which means we can keep observing it every year.
The BAA Comet Section runs a specific project for this comet, led by Richard Miles: MISSION 29P. There you can see the latest data and lightcurves.
One of the latest outbursts in February produced the typical “ammonite” shaped coma that we have come to expect with this comet. The latest data show it varying between mag. 12 and 15, but it can get as faint as mag 17. You will need a telescope to follow this comet but you can even use something like a Seestar S50 to capture useful scientific data.
29P “ammonite” outburst shape, captured by Ian Smith, processed by Mark Phillips
29P finder chart Mar – May 2026
Highlights:
- 3 Mar – Full Moon, known as the “Worm Moon”
- Jupiter still prominent in the evenings, mag. -2.37 and 42.4″ mid-month
- 11 Mar – comet 29P/ Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 at opposition
- 19 Mar – New Moon
- 20 Mar 14:46 GMT Vernal Equinox
- 29 Mar 01:00 GMT British Summertime, clocks forward: 01:00 GMT becomes 02:00 BST
- Galaxy season with clusters of galaxies in Leo, Virgo and Coma Berenices
- Ursa Major with the famous Plough asterism, containing some interesting objects, are high overhead
The chart shows the sky at 21:00 GMT on 15 March 2026.
Click on an item to expand for more information:
Showing for 15 March 2026
Mercury recently passed behind the Sun at superior solar conjunction.
21 Feb 2026 – Mercury at highest altitude in evening sky
18 Mar 2026 – Mercury at highest altitude in morning sky
03 Apr 2026 – Mercury at greatest elongation west
07 Jun 2026 – Mercury at highest altitude in evening sky
Venus recently passed behind the Sun at superior solar conjunction. From Edinburgh, however, it will become visible at around 18:37 (GMT), 8° above your western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then sink towards the horizon, setting 1 hour and 27 minutes after the Sun at 19:41.
19 Aug 2025 – Venus at highest altitude in morning sky
14 May 2026 – Venus at highest altitude in evening sky
14 Aug 2026 – Venus at greatest elongation east
04 Dec 2026 – Venus at highest altitude in morning sky
Mars will soon pass behind the Sun at solar conjunction.
24 Feb 2025 – Mars ends retrograde motion
10 Jan 2027 – Mars enters retrograde motion
19 Feb 2027 – Mars at opposition
20 Feb 2027 – Mars at perigee
Jupiter is currently an early evening object. From Edinburgh, it is visible in the evening sky, becoming accessible around 18:37 (GMT), 54° above your south-eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. It will then reach its highest point in the sky at 19:43, 57° above your southern horizon. It will continue to be observable until around 03:07, when it sinks below 7° above your north-western horizon.
11 Mar 2026 – Jupiter ends retrograde motion
13 Dec 2026 – Jupiter enters retrograde motion
11 Feb 2027 – Jupiter at opposition
13 Apr 2027 – Jupiter ends retrograde motion
Saturn will soon pass behind the Sun at solar conjunction.
28 Nov 2025 – Saturn ends retrograde motion
26 Jul 2026 – Saturn enters retrograde motion
04 Oct 2026 – Saturn at opposition
11 Dec 2026 – Saturn ends retrograde motion
Data from in-the-sky.org
| Comet name | Mag | Constellation | Separation from Sun | Trend | Absolute magnitude last updated |
| 141P-E/Machholz | 8.6 | Pisces | 42° | Fading | Unknown |
| C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) | 8.8 | Cetus | 54° | Fading | 3 Feb 2026 |
| 141P-F/Machholz | 8.8 | Cetus | 57° | Fading | Unknown |
| 141P-G/Machholz | 9.3 | Taurus | 88° | Fading | Unknown |
| 88P/Howell | 9.5 | Capricornus | 35° | Brightening | 1 Apr 2018 |
| C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) | 10.0 | Norma | 82° | Fading | 3 Feb 2026 |
| 141P-B/Machholz | 11.1 | Aquarius | 5° | Brightening | Unknown |
| C/2025 R3 (PANSTARRS) | 11.4 | Pegasus | 27° | Brightening | 3 Feb 2026 |
| D/1884 O1 (Barnard) | 12.5 | Aquarius | 8° | Fading | Unknown |
| 24P/Schaumasse | 12.5 | Serpens Caput | 107° | Fading | 3 Feb 2026 |
| C/2025 T1 (ATLAS) | 12.8 | Capricornus | 12° | Fading | 3 Feb 2026 |
| 167P/CINEOS | 12.9 | Sagittarius | 40° | Brightening | Unknown |
| C/2026 B2 (Sun-Gao) | 12.9 | Vulpecula | 36° | Fading | Unknown |
| 78P/Gehrels | 13.0 | Pisces | 14° | Brightening | 30 Sep 2020 |
| 63P/Wild | 13.0 | Auriga | 113° | Brightening | 1 Aug 2013 |
| 235P/LINEAR | 13.2 | Ophiuchus | 87° | Brightening | 3 Jan 2026 |
| 10P/Tempel | 13.6 | Ophiuchus | 79° | Brightening | 1 Apr 2018 |
| A/2025 Y1 | 13.7 | Virgo | 137° | Brightening | Unknown |
| 168P/Hergenrother | 13.9 | Capricornus | 18° | Brightening | 15 Jan 2013 |
| 34D/Gale | 14.0 | Virgo | 144° | Brightening | Unknown |
| 240P/NEAT | 14.0 | Taurus | 88° | Fading | 3 Jan 2026 |
| P/2010 H2 (Vales) | 14.2 | Sagittarius | 62° | Brightening | Unknown |
| 69P/Taylor | 14.4 | Cetus | 32° | Brightening | Unknown |
| C/2025 D1 (Groeller) | 14.4 | Draco | 90° | Brightening | Unknown |
| C/2025 L1 (ATLAS) | 14.6 | Libra | 95° | Brightening | Unknown |
Nothing of note this month.
You can see any meteors captured by our cameras on the Meteorcams page.
| Date | Age of Moon | Sun | Moon | ||||||||
| Rise | Culm | Set | Constellation | Rise | Culm | Set | Constellation | ||||
| 2026 | Mar | 01 | 11 days | 07:02 | 12:23 | 17:45 | Aquarius | 15:14 | 23:13 | 06:35 | Cancer |
| 2026 | Mar | 08 | 18 days | 06:45 | 12:22 | 18:00 | Aquarius | –:– | 03:40 | 07:23 | Libra |
| 2026 | Mar | 15 | 25 days | 06:26 | 12:20 | 18:14 | Pisces | 05:51 | 09:30 | 13:20 | Capricornus |
| 2026 | Mar | 22 | 02 days | 06:08 | 12:18 | 18:29 | Pisces | 06:47 | 15:13 | –:– | Aries |
| 2026 | Apr | 01 | 12 days | 06:42 | 13:15 | 19:49 | Pisces | 19:37 | 00:24 | 06:15 | Virgo |
Leo is a large equatorial constellation which represents a lion. It appears highest in the midnight sky in the months around February.
Its brightest star, Regulus lies very close to the ecliptic, the path that the Sun traces across the sky each year. The Sun passes through Leo each year between mid-August and mid-September.
North of Regulus, the lion’s mane is represented by a curved line of stars of second and third magnitude.
Lying away from the plane of the Milky Way, most of the deep sky objects in this area of the sky are galaxies of ninth magnitude or fainter. Among the brightest of these are the Leo Triplet, a close grouping of three gravitationally bound galaxies: M65, M66, and NGC 3628.
In Greek mythology, Leo is identified as the lion of Nemea, slain by Hercules. Its skin was armoured against all weapons, and Hercules’ arrows deflected off the beast. After strangling the monster, Hercules wore its skin as a cloak.
| Stars | Open Clusters | Globular Clusters | Galaxies |
| Regulus (mag 1.4) | Messier 66 (mag 8.9) | ||
| Denebola (mag 2.1) | NGC 2903 (mag 8.9) | ||
| Algieba (mag 2.2) | NGC 3521 (mag 9.1) | ||
| Zosma (mag 2.6) | Messier 96 (mag 9.2) | ||
| ε-Leo (mag 3.0) | Messier 105 (mag 9.3) | ||
| Chertan (mag 3.3) | Messier 65 (mag 9.3) | ||
| Adhafera (mag 3.4) | NGC 3628 (mag 9.4) | ||
| Subra (mag 3.5) | Messier 95 (mag 9.8) | ||
| η-Leo (mag 3.5) | NGC 3384 (mag 10.0) | ||
| γ²-Leo (mag 3.8) | NGC 3607 (mag 10.0) | ||
| ρ-Leo (mag 3.8) | NGC 3489 (mag 10.2) | ||
| Rasalas (mag 3.9) | NGC 3640 (mag 10.4) | ||
| ι-Leo (mag 4.0) | NGC 3412 (mag 10.5) | ||
| σ-Leo (mag 4.0) | NGC 3608 (mag 10.6) | ||
| λ-Leo (mag 4.3) | NGC 3810 (mag 10.8) | ||
| υ-Leo (mag 4.3) | NGC 3338 (mag 10.9) | ||
| A-Leo (mag 4.4) | NGC 3626 (mag 10.9) | ||
| b-Leo (mag 4.4) | NGC 3593 (mag 10.9) | ||
| φ-Leo (mag 4.5) | NGC 3705 (mag 11.0) | ||
| κ-Leo (mag 4.5) | NGC 3193 (mag 11.0) | ||
| 54-Leo (mag 4.5) | NGC 3189 (mag 11.1) | ||
| DQ Leo (mag 4.5) | NGC 3646 (mag 11.2) | ||
| 72-Leo (mag 4.6) | NGC 3239 (mag 11.4) | ||
| χ-Leo (mag 4.6) | NGC 3301 (mag 11.4) | ||
| π-Leo (mag 4.7) | NGC 3686 (mag 11.4) | ||
| p²-Leo (mag 4.7) | NGC 3900 (mag 11.4) | ||
| e-Leo (mag 4.8) | NGC 3596 (mag 11.5) | ||
| 40-Leo (mag 4.8) | NGC 2911 (mag 11.5) | ||
| d-Leo (mag 4.8) | NGC 3041 (mag 11.6) | ||
| τ-Leo (mag 4.9) | NGC 3655 (mag 11.7) |
Use the chevrons to choose the month:
Much of the material is provided with thanks to Dominic Ford on his excellent site in-the-sky.org.