The enchanting, brighter object is Earth’s neighbor Venus, which can be seen at -3.9 magnitude, according to the observatory. While the gaseous giant planet Jupiter is much farther away, we see it at -2.1 magnitude, bright enough to see from urban, light-polluted locations.

Throughout March, Jupiter drops into the western heavens. For a while, the planet will hide near the sun — but emerges in late spring as a morning planet.

Venus dazzles western skygazers for the remainder of the spring and into the middle of summer.

The month’s new moon appears March 21. Find the sliver of the young moon skating past Jupiter on March 22 in the western, evening horizon, and then dashing past Venus on Feb. 23-24.

Find Mars high in the southern heavens in the constellation Taurus. This little red dot is bright at zero magnitude. Find it above the large constellation Orion. The first-quarter moon scoots past the Red Planet on Feb. 27-28. A month later, the crescent moon approaches Mars on March 26-27, and then sprints by on March 28.

The winter season ebbs in favor of budding trees, as the vernal equinox arrives March 20 at 5:24 p.m., according to the observatory. This marks the astronomical start of spring. Effectively, that’s when the sun seems to cross into the northern hemisphere, but remember, in a physical truth, the sun stays put. We here on planet Earth are the ones moving.

Before spring, however, as winter’s dark days wane, we change our clocks again: On Sunday, March 12 at 2 a.m., the clocks must officially turn an hour forward to daylight saving time.

Washington starts March with 11 hours and 20 minutes of daylight, according to the observatory, and the month ends March 31 with us soaking in 12 hours and 36 minutes of daylight.

Thank you, readers. It’s been a joy to be your journalistic tour guide to heavenly backyards, as I now end a few decades of writing this column.

This endeavor started on the Style Plus page back in the day, and I wish to thank my original editors, Peggy Hackman and Bill Smart, for their confidence. Thank you to my current editors, the always kind Gene Fynes and Anne Bartlett.

Thank you to astronomer Geoff Chester of the Naval Observatory, for your benevolence, your patience in explaining celestial mechanics and for keeping me on the path to cosmic accuracy.

As they have for millions of years, our heavens continually change. Please enjoy them. While the Roman poet Virgil gets original credit for coining this phrase — to the stars — please indulge me in his Latin: Ad astra.

Down-to-Earth Events:

* March 11 — Enjoy the late winter heavens at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly. See the sky through telescopes provided by Northern Virginia Astronomy Club members. Meet at the museum’s bus parking lot, 6:30-8:30 p.m. airandspace.si.edu.

* March 11 — “Stars in Accretion Disks That Orbit Black Holes,” a talk by Alex Dittmann, a University of Maryland graduate student, at the National Capital Astronomers meeting. 7:30 p.m. Online only. For access, visit capitalastronomers.org.

* March 12 — If astronomy is your field of dreams, go the distance. Astronomer Pete Gural explains how to measure parsecs and astronomical units so you can buzz about light-years. At the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club meeting, Room 3301, Exploratory Hall, George Mason University. 7:30 p.m. For details or to attend virtually: novac.com.

* March 17 — “Comets, Centaurs and Trans-Neptunian Objects,” a lecture by Walter Harris of the University of Arizona. Hosted by PSW, formerly the Philosophical Society of Washington. 8 p.m. YouTube Channel: PSW Science. 8 p.m. In-person detail: pswscience.com.

* March 18 — “Astronomy for Everyone” at Sky Meadows State Park in Fauquier County, with telescopes provided by Northern Virginia Astronomy Club members. 6:30-9:30 p.m. GPS: 11012 Edmonds Lane, Delaplane, Va., 20144. Info: novac.com. Park fee: $10.

* March 30 — “Earth-Based Analogs in Support of Space Missions,” a lecture by Marc Shepanek from NASA’s Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer. 8 p.m. National Air and Space Museum, on the National Mall. Detail: airandspace.si.edu. To attend in person or online, register at tinyurl.com/bdekx49m.