Wolverhampton Astronomical Society

Established 1951

This Months Planets & Deep Sky Tour FebruaryNovember 2012

Planets for February 20121 for previous months click here to select a month.

The Planets

Pick of the month.

MERCURY 

BEST TIME TO SEE:  29th February, 18:30UT

ALTITUDE:  7° (low)

LOCATION:  Pisces

DIRECTION:  West

Mercury is too close to the Sun for viewing at the start of February, but will be visible low in the west-southwest from the 17th onwards, just after sunset.  At the end of February Mercury shines at mag. -0.8 and is readily visible in the west about 30 minutes after sunset.  Through a telescope the planet shows a gibbous disc (66% lit) at this time.

VENUS

BEST TIME TO SEE: 29th February, from 18:30 UT

ALTITUDE: 30°

LOCATION: Pisces

DIRECTION: West-southwest

RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT: Naked Eye 4-inch scope or larger

FEATURES OF INTEREST: Phase, subtle markings in the atmosphere

Venus just gets better with each passing day.  The planet is currently visible in the western part of the sky after sunset and is now far enough separated from the Sun to be seen against a dark sky background.  This occurs around 18:30 UT at the start of February but later, at 19:30 UT, by the end of the month.  At magnitude -4.1, this is a tricky planet to miss: it looks similar to the view you get if you happen to be standing in line with a plane with its landing lights on.  Through a telescope, the planet's phase is currently on the decrease, changing from 75% lit, waning gibbous on the 29th.  fortunately, as the phase decreases, so the apparent diameter of Venus increases.  On 1 February, Venus appears with a disc 15 arcseconds across.  By the end of the month, this willhave increased to 18 arcseconds.  Venus isn't the easiest planet to observe visually its disc, at first glance, looks quite bland and featureless.  However, there are subtle variations.  It can take some practice to see these, but they are there!  Venus also has a couple of interesting meetings with other objects this month, starting with a close encounter with mag. +5.9 Uranus on the 9th, the two planets appearing just 25 arcminutes apart at 19:40 UT.  Then, on 25th February, a slender crescent Moon (13% lit) passes less than 3° to the north of Venus in what should be quite a spectacular sight.  as the end on the month approaches, Venus closes in on bright Jupiter, but the full encounter doesn't take place until next month.

MARS

BEST TIME TO SEE: 29th February, 00:40 UT

ALTITUDE: 46°

LOCATION: Leo

DIRECTION: South

RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT: 6-inch scope or larger

FEATURES OF INTEREST: Surface markings, clouds, polar caps

Mars is now travelling west against the background stars.  It starts the month off in Virgo but quickly hops across the border into Leo on the 4th.  Mars is at opposition on 3 March, but sadly is also at aphelion (the point when the planet is furthest from the Sun) on 15 February, which will make this opposition the worst in terms of disc size for 17 years.  But the Red Planet is still worth a look through a telescope.  Its disc grows from 11-13 arcseconds throughout the month and there should be plenty of detail visible.  By the end of the month, Mars is up all night and best placed around midnight.

JUPITER

BEST TIME TO SEE: 1st February, 18:30 UT

ALTITUDE: 46°

LOCATION: Aires

DIRECTION: South-southwest

Jupiter starts the month quite high up as darkness falls, just to the west of south.  It looks spectacular through a telescope, presenting a 39-arcsecond disc full of detail.  As the days start to get longer and Jupiter slips further west, the planets position worsens.  By the end of February, mag. -2.0 Jupiter can be seen in the west-southwest as the sky gets dark, not far from the mag. -4.1 planet Venus.  Together this pair of bright planets should look very impressive.

SATURN

BEST TIME TO SEE: 29th February,  03:20 UT

ALTITUDE:  28°

LOCATION:  Virgo

DIRECTION:  South

Saturn is becoming easier to observe, rising at midnight at the start of the month and at 22:00 UT by the end.  The rings are currently tilted towards Earth by 15° and will be clearly visible through a telescope, but sadly the planet is now entering a low part of the sky and won't get much above 28° in altitude.  Currently, mag. +0.5, Saturn lies in the constellation  of Virgo, not too far from the mag. +1.0 star Spica.  The planet's atmosphere is less detailed than that of Jupiter but can still present surprises in the form of bright storms, which may be seen in a 6-8 inch scope.

URANUS

BEST TIME TO SEE: 1st February, 19:00 UT

ALTITUDE: 20°

LOCATION: Pisces

DIRECTION: West-southwest

Uranus is rapidly being lost to the evening twilight.  But, on the evening of 9 February, mag. -4.0 Venus and +5.9 Uranus can be seen less than half a degree apart.

NEPTUNE

BEST TIME TO SEE: N/A

ALTITUDE: N/A

LOCATION: N/A

DIRECTION: N/A

Not visible this month.

DEEP SKY TOUR

Deep space treasures in and around the constellation of Monecoros, the Unicorn

BETA MONOCEROTIS

M50

ROSETTE NEBULA

COLLINDER 106

HUBBLE'S VARIABLE NEBULA

ESKIMO NEBULA

The Wolverhampton Astronomical Society is affiliated or a member of the following organisations: 

British Astronomical Association, The Society for Popular Astronomy, the Federation of Astronomical Societies and the West Midlands Federation of Astronomical Societies.