March is a month often connected with green–the color of St. Paddy's Day and the first harbingers of spring as bright green shoots emerge from the rich brown earth.

But well beyond the earth and into the stratosphere, a recent article in the International Herald Tribune caught our attention. The article stated that when astronomers mixed the hues of thousands of galaxies, they did not come up with blue, as we might have anticipated, but something blue-greenish, between aquamarine and turquoise.

For future reference, we wanted to know what specific shade or shades of blue green and that led us to contact the astronomer quoted in the article, Karl Glazebrook of Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Glazebrook responded that although he is not an expert on color, he has been told the greens were "close to" Pantone 7472 or 7465 in the Pantone Formula Guide. So we checked them out and yes, they were what we would identify as between aquamarine and turquoise. So, if you are planning any space travel in the not-too-distant future, know that you will be surrounded by beautiful, placid, calming blue-greens.