SkyEye

Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events.

February 2007

All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT).
Nightly darkness estimates are calculated for 45° N and 30° S.
Like total solar eclipses, lunar occultation events can be seen only from limited regions on Earth (and sometimes not at all if the occultation takes place during daylight hours). However, the Moon will appear close in the sky to its "target" for some hours either side of the actual occultation, regardless of where you are.

Date		Event
1	Thu
2	Fri	A cross-quarter day occurs midway between solstices and equinoxes.
		Full Moon
		Moon occults Saturn: visible from Greenland, much of Scandinavia, Russia, central Asia and northern India.
3	Sat	Moon occults first-magnitude star Regulus: visible from Alaska, northwestern United States, northern and western Canada.
4	Sun
5	Mon
6	Tue
7	Wed	Moon at apogee
7	Wed	Mercury at greatest elongation east
8	Thu	The waning gibbous Moon is still up when the radiant of the Alpha Centaurid meteor shower is at its highest. This is not a good year for viewing this particular shower.
8	Thu	Neptune at conjunction
9	Fri
10	Sat	Last Quarter Moon
10	Sat	Saturn at opposition
11	Sun
12	Mon
13	Tue
14	Wed
15	Thu
16	Fri
17	Sat	New Moon
18	Sun
19	Mon	Moon at perigee
20	Tue
21	Wed
22	Thu
23	Fri	Mercury at inferior conjunction
24	Sat	First Quarter Moon
25	Sun
26	Mon
27	Tue
28	Wed

The Solar System

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. Dwarf planets and small solar-system bodies are not so constrained, often moving far above or below the ecliptic.

Sun: Capricornus -> Aquarius
Comet C/2006 P1 McNaught: Indus -> Tucana
Discovered by Robert McNaught last 7 August on Siding Spring Mountain, this bright comet delighted both northern and southern hemisphere observers last month. Although the comet is now fading as it heads away from the Sun, those in the southern hemisphere can continue to follow it with binoculars and telescopes. Look in the southwest after sunset.
Mercury: Aquarius -> Capricornus
This tiny planet rises towards Venus in the evening twilight before diving back to the horizon. Lost by midmonth for those in the southern hemisphere, it is visible for a little longer in the north. Mercury reaches greatest elongation east on 7 February and then inferior conjunction on 23 February. It will reappear in the morning sky next month.
Venus: Aquarius -> Pisces -> Cetus -> Pisces
The "evening star" is rising ever higher above the sunset horizon for viewers in the northern hemisphere but stays stubbornly low when seen from below the equator.
Mars: Sagittarius -> Capricornus
The red planet rises only an hour or so ahead of the Sun, making it a difficult object low in the dawn sky.
Jupiter: Ophiuchus
The brilliant "morning star" is Jupiter, now rising in the early hours.
Saturn: Leo
Zeroeth magnitude Saturn is at opposition on 10 February. It will not be this bright again for several years, mostly on account of its rings closing up as seen from Earth (they will be edge-on in two years). Look for the ringed planet at any time after dark: it is up all night. In particular, it will be near the Moon on 2 February.
Uranus: Aquarius
This distant gas giant is approaching conjunction next month and is probably lost in the solar glare.
Neptune: Capricornus
A small telescope is usually necessary to view the most distant planet in the solar system but observations are impossible this month because Neptune is at conjunction on 8 February.

The Celestial Sphere

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

For More Information...

Consult our online glossary for non-technical explanations of many of the astronomical terms used in these pages.
Blue moons, eclipses, the dates of Easter and much more can be found at the Interactive Astronomy Pages.
For more information about the objects and events described in SkyEye, visit these astronomy-related sites.

Credits

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 Hoag's Object in the SkyEye banner is courtesy of NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). Discovered in 1950 by astronomer Art Hoag, this unusual ring galaxy is slightly larger than our own Milky Way. The blue ring is dominated by young, massive stars whilst the nucleus is comprised largely of older, yellower stars. Located 600 million light years away in the constellation of Serpens, Hoag's Object was photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope on 9 July 2001.