Observing Nights in March 2026 – A Tale of Transparency Troubles

March 2026 offered several promising days with bright sunshine, and at first glance it looked like the nights would be equally rewarding. Reality, however, had other plans. Although the sky often looked good, transparency turned out to be the big spoiler this month. Still, with my 18-inch Obsession telescope set up in the garden, I enjoyed two observing sessions—March 18 and March 21—each with its own strengths, frustrations, and surprises.

---

March 18, 2026 – A Clear-Looking Sky That Wasn’t

The first session of the month began with high hopes. The sky seemed excellent at the start of the night, but transparency quickly revealed itself to be very poor. Despite this, it was a good night for testing equipment: the Nexus eFinder again performed flawlessly. Every object—no matter which eyepiece I used—landed perfectly centered in the field of view. A true joy.

Conditions:

• Temperature: 9.2°C at the start, dropping to 7.3°C
• Humidity: rising from 67% to 72%
• Transparency: terrible
• Seeing: decent early in the evening, worse later

Jupiter – A Bright Start

The session began positively with Jupiter. A lot of detail was visible on the planet’s surface, and the Galilean moons formed a nice arrangement: three on one side, one on the other. A promising warm‑up.

Unfortunately, the rest of the night was marked by extremely poor transparency. Many deep-sky objects appeared far fainter than they should through an 18-inch telescope. As a result, I focused mostly on brighter and familiar targets.

Below is a summary of the night’s observations (almost all with the Tele Vue 13mm Ethos unless stated otherwise):

Galaxies

• M 82: Fainter than expected; elongated with a diagonal dust lane.
• M 81: A featureless oval blob—transparency killed all detail.
• NGC 2903: Faint, elongated, brighter core visible.
• M 66: Elongated, very bright core; a bright nearby star noticeable.
• M 65: Much fainter than M 66; elongated with a slightly brighter core.
• M 95: Small, round, very faint; bright core.
• M 96: Slightly elongated (3:2), faint but with a clearly brighter core.
• M 105 + NGC 3384: Two faint, similar-sized smudges.
• NGC 3389: Very faint, barely visible.
• M 51: Two cores visible; spiral arms only barely detectable with CLS filter.

Open Clusters & Other Objects

• M 35: Very large and bright with the 31mm Nagler; many stars visible.
• NGC 2158: Extremely faint; visible only as a smudge with CLS filter.
• M 36: About 50 stars forming a butterfly shape.
• M 37: Rich cluster; many stars of equal brightness, some forming a C-shape.
• M 38: Messy appearance; moderate brightness stars, but few structures visible.

Closing with Jupiter

Before ending the session, I revisited Jupiter. Seeing had deteriorated, but the Great Red Spot was still visible near the limb—although not as easily as earlier in the night.

---

March 21, 2026 – Even Worse Transparency

After several partly cloudy nights, March 21 finally brought another “clear” sky. But if transparency was bad on March 18, this night managed to surpass it—in the wrong direction. It quickly became evident that this would be a short session.

Conditions:

• Temperature: 7°C → 4°C
• Humidity: 67% → 80%
• Transparency: even worse than March 18
• Seeing: surprisingly good

Jupiter – The Saving Grace

At least Jupiter did not disappoint. The seeing was steady enough to use the Tele Vue 6mm Ethos, and the planet looked fantastic.

• Numerous fine details visible
• The Great Red Spot near the edge
• Europa very close to Jupiter’s limb

This alone made setting up worthwhile.

Galaxies Under Murky Skies

I revisited M 65, M 66, and M 51, but all three were even fainter than during the previous session. M 51 was reduced to two weak smudges—no hint of spiral structure.

Planetary Nebulae – Small Wins

Planetary nebulae fared better than galaxies in these conditions:

• NGC 40: Acceptable, with recognizable structure.
• NGC 1501: Not too bad; still visible despite the haze.
• NGC 2242: Not visible at all.
• NGC 2371 & 2372: A decent ending to the night; both lobes visible.

With transparency deteriorating further, I wrapped up the session early.

---

Conclusion

March 2026 will not be remembered for great transparency, but both nights still offered memorable moments. Excellent seeing on March 21 allowed a beautiful view of Jupiter at high magnification, and even on poor nights, the 18-inch Obsession combined with the Nexus eFinder made navigating the sky effortless.

Some nights remind us that astronomy is as much about patience and persistence as it is about dark skies—March 2026 was one of those months.