February’s Astronomy Events
The February sky is not as active as other months, however we still have a few interesting things to observe such as the daytime Aretids meteor shower, which peaks on June 7th and can be seen best in the dark hour before dawn. We can also observe the Bootids meteor shower, which peaks on June 27th. This month features the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest day of the year, which takes place on June 20th.
All images are from SkySafari 6 and can be clicked on for a full screen version.
01 – Find the moon and Venus close together on the southwestern horizon around 7:30 in the evening. Not shown on the chart below is Neptune, lingering just below the moon.
06 – Jupiter and the moon are high overhead together at 7:30 this evening. Jupiter rests on one horn of Taurus the bull.
09 – A couple of nights later and it’s Mars that the moon pays a visit to, this time in Gemini.
21 – Antares, the bright red star of Scorpius is passed by the moon in the hours before sunrise today.
24 – No moon this time. Instead, we see Mercury and Saturn bowing out of the evening sky a short time after sunset. Be quick to see these because they’ll soon set themselves.
28 – A wonderful opportunity to see an incredibly thin lunar crescent presents itself this evening. Look for Mercury in the west after sunset (you’ll need a very clear view of the horizon to stand a chance of seeing Saturn) and, just below it, is the one-day-old moon. Its crescent will only be 1% illuminated and so this is about the youngest it’s possible to see the moon with the naked eye!
