A shell of its former self

RCW 58 is a faint emission nebula in the constellation Carina, formed from material shed by the massive Wolf-Rayet star WR 40 at its centre. Powerful stellar wind has pushed this gas into a thin, filamentary shell that glows mainly in hydrogen and oxygen. RCW 58 is about 13,000 light-years from Earth. Photo: MPAS member Nik Axaris

The constellation Orion is gradually sinking out of view, so make the most of it before it disappears. Leo is very much still on show and can be found sitting high in the northern part of the sky. Not far away from Leo, a little lower in the northwest, are the brightest stars of the constellation Gemini, Castor and Pollux. Meanwhile Spica, the brightest star in Virgo, twinkles away in the east, with the blazing Canopus in Carina taking centre stage in the southwest sky.

This month you can see plenty of objects with a good pair of binoculars, including the open cluster known as the Southern Pleiades (IC 2602). Its brightest member, the star Theta Carinae, can be spotted with the naked eye. If you turn binoculars on the cluster, you can see about 24 other sparkling stars.

Looking south is the False Cross, which is formed by four stars in the constellations Carina and Vela. The False Cross asterism resembles the constellation Crux, the Southern Cross, but is somewhat larger. Still looking south is the globular cluster Omega Centaurai (NGC 5139), the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way and a must-see object. A large telescope shows many of its stars, while binoculars show the cluster as a bright patch of light. In the west, the open cluster, the Jewel Box (NGC 4755), in Crux, is a nice target for small telescopes and binoculars.

There is a total lunar eclipse on 3 March plus plenty of conjunctions this month, which is when two astronomical objects appear close to each other in the sky. This includes Venus and Neptune on 3 March, Venus and Saturn on 9 March, Mars and Mercury on 14 March, the moon and Mercury and also the moon and Mars on 18 March, the moon and Venus on 20 March, and the moon and Jupiter on 26 March. On 21 March the Earth is at Equinox, which is when Earth’s two hemispheres are receiving the sun’s rays equally.

By Nerida Langcake
This article appeared in the March 2026 issue of the Mornington Peninsula Magazine.