Night sky March 2027 UK: planets, Moon and meteor showers
What to see from Britain in March 2027, with times worked out for UK skies rather than copied from American guides.
March brings the spring equinox, the clock change and the last good month for the winter stars in the evening. Mars and Jupiter are in the evening sky, and Venus is best before dawn in mid-March 2027. Uranus is also up for anyone with binoculars or a telescope. The full Moon, the Worm Moon, is on Monday 22 March 2027. No major meteor shower peaks in March.
March 2027 night sky: key dates
| Date | What's happening |
|---|---|
| Monday 8 March | New Moon at about 09:30 GMT |
| Monday 15 March | First Quarter at about 16:30 GMT |
| Wednesday 17 March | Mercury at greatest western elongation, 28° from the Sun in the morning sky, but too low in the twilight to see well from the UK |
| Friday 19 March | The Moon passes near Mars in the evening |
| Saturday 20 March | March equinox: the start of astronomical spring (about 20:25 GMT) |
| Monday 22 March | Full Moon, the Worm Moon at about 10:45 GMT |
| Thursday 25 March | Neptune passes behind the Sun (conjunction) and can't be seen |
| Sunday 28 March | Clocks go forward to BST at 1am: sunset and dark both jump an hour later |
| Tuesday 30 March | Last Quarter at about 01:55 BST |
Times are UK local time, rounded to five minutes. For what's up on a particular night, see the UK night sky this week and the 7-night astronomy weather forecast.
When does it get dark in March in the UK?
On 15 March the Sun sets at about 18:10 GMT in central England and the sky is dark enough for stargazing from about 19:25 until 05:05. True astronomical darkness, which faint galaxies and the Milky Way need, lasts from about 20:05 to 04:25.
| Date | Sunset | Dark enough to stargaze | Astronomical darkness |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 March | 17:45 GMT | 19:00 to 05:40 | 19:40 to 05:00 |
| 15 March | 18:10 GMT | 19:25 to 05:05 | 20:05 to 04:25 |
| 31 March | 19:40 BST | 20:55 to 05:25 | 21:40 to 04:40 |
For Birmingham. "Dark enough" means the Sun is 12° below the horizon; astronomical darkness means 18°. Around midsummer it never gets that dark in Edinburgh or anywhere further north. In midwinter Edinburgh is dark about 5 minutes earlier than Birmingham and Plymouth about 15 minutes later; in spring and autumn the whole country is within about 15 minutes of these times.
Planets visible in March 2027
Mars and Jupiter are in the evening sky, and Venus is best before dawn in mid-March 2027. Uranus is also up for anyone with binoculars or a telescope. The details below are for 15 March from central England; times move by a few minutes from night to night.
Not well placed this month: Mercury, Saturn, Neptune.
Moon phases March 2027
| Phase | Date and time |
|---|---|
| New Moon | Monday 8 March, about 09:30 GMT |
| First Quarter | Monday 15 March, about 16:30 GMT |
| Full Moon | Monday 22 March, about 10:45 GMT |
| Last Quarter | Tuesday 30 March, about 01:55 BST |
The best evenings for faint targets this month are 1 to 10 and 24 to 31 March, when the Moon is out of the sky for at least the first hour after dark. The full Moon is the Worm Moon; our moon phase tonight page shows the Moon for any night.
Meteor showers in March 2027
No major meteor shower peaks in March.
For a quick verdict on any night, see is there a meteor shower tonight, and the UK meteor shower calendar for the year ahead.
Constellations and deep-sky objects in March
Orion slides into the west after dark, Gemini is high in the south-west, and Leo, with its sickle of stars, climbs into the south-east. The Plough stands high in the north-east.
- The Beehive Cluster (M44), high in the south
- Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy (M81 and M82), a pair for small telescopes above the Plough
- The zodiacal light, a faint cone of light in the west after dusk, from a dark site with a clear western horizon
To find your way around, our constellation guides show each star pattern, and binocular astronomy explains how to star-hop to clusters like these. For the darkest skies near you, try the UK dark sky sites map.
Kit for a month of stargazing
Kit we've reviewed in full
Nothing on this page needs more than your eyes, but a star chart and a red light make finding things far easier, and binoculars show the Moon's craters, Jupiter's moons and the best star clusters.
Philip's Planisphere (latitude 51.5° North)
Turn the wheel to the date and time and it shows exactly which constellations are up. Made for 51.5° north, so it matches the sky over Britain.
Lepro Rechargeable Head Torch with Red Light (2 pack)
Red light lets you read a chart without undoing the 20 minutes your eyes need to adapt to the dark.
The UK astronomy forums' standard first pair: waterproof, bright and the right size for clusters, the Moon and the Milky Way.
Our best binoculars for stargazing
Honest, research-based recommendations for every budget.
Browse all →Affiliate links: you pay the same price, we earn a small commission that helps keep WatchTheStars free.
Every figure on this page is calculated for central England (52.5° north) when the site rebuilds each night, using the same methods as our stargazing tonight tool, checked against the JPL ephemeris. Each month's page moves on to the following year once the month ends.