The Moon is near Regulus on Sunday and full on Tuesday when we are treated to a morning eclipse. The partial phase begins at 5:50 with totality occurring at 7:04, shortly after moonset for all but the northwestern edge of New Brunswick. People in the western quarter of Canada will see all phases of the eclipse. This Saturday evening do not expect to see a parade of planets as depicted on social media. You will need an unobstructed western horizon to see Mercury a binocular width to the right of much brighter Venus around 6:45, with both about a binocular width above the horizon and setting less than half an hour later. Saturn will be within two binocular fields upper left of Venus, and next weekend Venus will be passing closely to the right of Saturn as they head in opposite directions. On Sunday evening, with Jupiter high overhead, telescope users might see its moon Ganymede reappear from the planet’s shadow at 7:16 with Io’s shadow near the middle of the planet.

Tune in to the Sunday Night Astronomy Show at 8 pm on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of Astronomy by the Bay. The Saint John Astronomy Club meets in the Rockwood Park Interpretation Centre on March 7 at 7 pm….