February’s Astronomy Events
February’s night sky has plenty of beautiful sights for us to enjoy, with almost all of them involving the moon, including both a solar and lunar eclipse!
All images are from SkySafari 6 and can be clicked on for a full screen version.
01 – Spica is the brightest star in Virgo, shining at magnitude one. This morning, before sunrise, we’ll see the moon pass by within two degrees of it. The chart below shows the position at 6 a.m.
07 – You’ll need a good view of the horizon to enjoy this sigh, but it’ll be worth it. The moon, Venus and Mars all congregate to the left of the ‘Teapot’ asterism in Sagittarius before sunrise this morning. The chart below shows the position at 6:30 in the morning.
14 – The moon features again but this time passes by this month’s easiest to see planet: Jupiter. In the chart below, the two objects are 3.5° apart at 9 p.m. By the time they set, at midnight, they’ll be even closer together.
22 – This is a fab conjunction to round off February’s few events. At 6:30 in the morning, before sunrise, Venus and Mars will be about half a degree apart. Both planets will fit comfortably inside the same eyepiece view. The only challenges are that they’re low on the horizon and the sun rises not long after you see this pair.
