The Planets: 
In late March, look for all five visible planets at the same time at dusk.  The month begins with the two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, on opposite sides of the sky.  Look for Venus high and bright in the west at dusk and Jupiter low and rapidly rising in the east.  Mars can be spotted to the upper left of Venus, while Mercury glimmers way below Venus.  Yellow Saturn shines in Gemini midway between Jupiter and Mars.

Mercury: Although this planet is usually hard to see because of its proximity to the Sun, this month Mercury is at its best for observers.  Until March 15^th binoculars can pull it out of the twilight, but by March 20^th it becomes easily visible to the eye.

Venus: In late March Venus is the highest it has been since 1996. Observers can easily spot it around sunset about halfway up in the western sky.  It is the brightest object in the sky besides the moon.

Mars: The ruddy color of Mars makes it easy to find in the west, although it is now dimmer than many stars.  Its color and brightness can be compared to a neighboring star to its left called Aldebaran, the bright eye of the constellation Taurus, the bull.
 
Jupiter:  For North Texas viewers, Jupiter will be visible all night long on the night of March 3-4.  This is the night that Jupiter is at the point in our sky opposite the Sun.  The planet is the second brightest object in the sky other than the Moon and Venus.  For those with a telescope, the rare opportunity to see 3 of Jupiter's 4 Galilean moons simultaneously pass in front of the planet occurs on March 27/28.  The moons will cast their shadows on this gas giant.

Saturn:  This continues to be an excellent time to see Saturn's rings as the planet is tilted to allow its rings to be open almost to maximum. 

SPRING IS HERE!
Because of the tilt of the earth and its orbital position, the Sun will cross the celestial equator at 12:49 AM on March 20, CST.  This event is called the "vernal equinox" or "spring equinox". At this particular moment, the sun lies directly above earth's equator.  ("Equinox" means equal hours of daylight and darkness.)

Looking for a Little More?  If this Skyline whets your appetite, try this website:  skymaps.com/downloads.html.  It offers a two page pdf brochure that you can print out for free.  It has a basic skymap and short lists of visual, binocular, and small telescope objects.  It is really good--check it out!