Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events. All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT). Nightly darkness estimates are calculated for Greenwich, London (51.5° N, 0° W).
| Date | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wed | |
| 2 | Thu | Cross-quarter days are midway between solstices and equinoxes. |
| Saturn is very close to the Beehive open star cluster. | ||
| 3 | Fri | |
| 4 | Sat | |
| 5 | Sun | First Quarter Moon |
| 6 | Mon | Neptune at conjunction |
| Jupiter at west quadrature | ||
| 7 | Tue | |
| 8 | Wed | The waxing gibbous Moon may interfere with observing the Alpha Centaurids meteor shower during the evening hours. |
| 9 | Thu | |
| 10 | Fri | |
| 11 | Sat | |
| 12 | Sun | |
| 13 | Mon | Full Moon |
| 14 | Tue | Moon at apogee |
| Venus is at its brightest magnitude of the year at -4.6. | ||
| 15 | Wed | |
| 16 | Thu | |
| 17 | Fri | |
| 18 | Sat | Moon occults the first-magnitude star Spica. Observers in eastern North America and parts of west Africa should start watching the skies from approximately 0400 UT. |
| Mars is very close to the Pleiades open star cluster. | ||
| 19 | Sun | Mars at east quadrature |
| 20 | Mon | |
| 21 | Tue | Last Quarter Moon |
| Moon occults the first-magnitude star Antares. This event begins at approximately 2100 UT for observers in western Australia. | ||
| 22 | Wed | |
| 23 | Thu | |
| 24 | Fri | Mercury at greatest elongation east |
| 25 | Sat | |
| 26 | Sun | |
| 27 | Mon | Moon at perigee |
| 28 | Tue | New Moon |
The word planet is derived from the Greek word for "wanderer." Unlike the background stars, planets seem to move around the sky, keeping mostly to a narrow track called the ecliptic, the path of the Sun across the stars.
| Object | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sun | Capricornus -> Aquarius |
|
| Mercury | Capricornus -> Aquarius -> Pisces |
Now an evening sky object, Mercury rises high in the west after sunset for northern hemisphere observers. Those in the southern hemisphere are not so lucky this month as this tiny planet remains stubbornly close to the western horizon. Mercury reaches greatest elongation east on 24 February. |
| Venus | Sagittarius | However, viewers in the southern hemisphere get much the best views of Venus, the "morning star." It is visible to observers in the northern hemisphere too but does not rise nearly so high above the eastern horizon before sunrise as it does when seen from the southern hemisphere. Named for the Roman goddess of love, it appropriately reaches a dazzling -4.6 magnitude on 14 February, Valentine's Day. |
| Mars | Aries -> Taurus |
The red planet makes a pretty spectacle on 18 February when it passes near the young open star cluster known as the Pleiades. The following day it is at east quadrature so the disc may not look quite full as seen from the Earth. Look for Mars after nightfall in the south or southwest because it sets shortly after midnight. |
| Jupiter | Libra | Because it reaches west quadrature on 6 February, this is an excellent time to observe the largest planet in the solar system. If you have a telescope, look for shadows on the disc of the planet caused by the four large Galilean satellites and watch out for interesting shadow effects caused by the planet on any eclipsed satellites. Jupiter rises about midnight, just before Mars sets. |
| Saturn | Cancer | On 2 February, the ringed planet skims past the Beehive open cluster. Saturn was at opposition last month so it appears in the sky virtually all night. |
| Uranus | Aquarius | With conjunction approaching next month, faint Uranus is too close to the Sun to observe this month. |
| Neptune | Capricornus | This distant gas giant reach conjunction on 6 February and is lost in the Sun's glare this month. |
| Pluto | Serpens (Cauda) | With a brightness of around fourteenth magnitude, the smallest planet in the solar system can be seen only through a good-sized telescope. It rises early in the morning hours. |
Constellations are patterns of stars in the sky. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recognises 88 different constellations. The brightest stars as seen from the Earth are easy to spot but do you know their proper names? With a set of binoculars you can look for fainter objects such as nebulae and galaxies or some of the closest stars to the Sun.
Descriptions of the sky for observers in both the northern and southern hemispheres are available for the following times this month. Subtract one hour from your local time if summer (daylight savings) time is in effect.
| Local Time | Northern Hemisphere | Southern Hemisphere |
|---|---|---|
| 1730 hours (1830 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 1930 hours (2030 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 2130 hours (2230 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 2330 hours (0030 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 0130 hours (0230 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 0330 hours (0430 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 0530 hours (0630 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
Much of this information can be found in this month's issue of your favourite amateur astronomy magazine available in your local bookshop. Another excellent source is the current edition of the Astronomical Calendar by Guy Ottewell and published by the Universal Workshop at Furman University.
The image of the Sun in the SkyEye banner is courtesy of the SOHO/EIT consortium. The composite image from May 1998 combines EIT images from three wavelengths (171Å, 195Å and 284Å) into one that reveals solar features unique to each wavelength. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.
Copyright © 1995-2006 by David Harper and L.M. Stockman