|
1st |
Tonight's waxing gibbous Moon
(65% lit) lies about 3.5° south of the
Pleiades open. Cluster The light from the Moon will make
it hard to see the cluster with the unaided eye., but binoculars
should show it clearly. |
|
2nd |
The eastward motion of the Moon
places it to the northeast of the mag. +0.8 star Aldebaran, the
Bull, this evening. Look for orange-hued Aldebaran 5°
southwest of the waxing gibbous Moon (74% lit). |
|
3rd |
Comet C/20009 P1 Garradd
passes close to M92, a globular cluster in the constellation of
Hercules, tonight and in tomorrow morning. The comet
should be around 7th magnitude at this time, while the globular
cluster will be slightly brighter at mag. +6.4. |
|
7th |
Mag. -4.0 Venus makes a close
approach to mag. +5.9 Uranus from now into the next week.
Tonight the two are separated by just over 3.5°,
but this falls to less than 0.5° on the 9th. |
|
8th |
The planet Jupiter is flanked
by two of its Galilean moons, Europa and Ganymede, at around
19:50 UT this evening. Look out for the small dark spot on
the cloud tops of Jupiter - this is the shadow of Europa as it
transits Jupiter's disc. |
|
9th |
Tonight and into Friday morning,
the almost full Moon, (93% lit) will pass around 10°
to the south of mag. -0.8 Mars. The planet is bright enough
to withstand the Moon's glare. |
|
10th |
Don't forget to look to the
west after sunset, where you'll see the dazzling planet Venus
shining away. |
|
12th |
If you're up and about at 3:30
UT, take a look at the waning gibbous Moon (77% lit) roughly due
south. Just to its left (east) you'll find the mag .+1.0
star Spica. Continue eastward and the next brightest 'star you'll
come to is the mag. +0.6 planet Saturn. |
|
13th |
The fabulous open cluster
known as M44, the Beehive, reaches its highest point in the sky
around 23:00 UT. The Moon is below the horizon at this
time too, so it's a great opportunity to take in the view.
A pair of binoculars or a telescope with a low-power eyepiece is
best. |
|
15th |
The bright mag. +2.3 star
located just to the south of the waning crescent Moon (77% lit) in
the early hours is Dschubba or Delta Scorpii. The point of
closest approach is around 05:00 UT. |
|
17th |
At around 05:30 UT the waning
crescent Moon (23% lit) lies just to the north of lies just to the
north of the Trifid Nebula, M20, pictured, occulting the northern
part of the Nebula as it goes. The Moon then occults the
open cluster M21 against a bright morning sky around 06:00 UT. |
|
19th |
With a crescent Moon not rising
until just before dawn, tonight would be an ideal time to take our
deep sky tour. |
|
20th |
On Earth, our zero point of
longitude is marked by the Greenwich Meridian. On Mars, the
zero point of longitude is marked by a feature known as the Sinus
Meridiani. This is more or less centrally located at
midnight tonight. |
|
22nd |
If it's clear this evening and
you can find a location with an unobstructed western horizon, look
out for mag. -1.1 Mercury, visible as a dot low in the evening
twilight just after sunset. Also watch out for an extremely
thin waxing crescent Moon (0.7% lit) lying 6.5°
to the right of Mercury. |
|
23rd |
Tonight's Moon is a little
easier to see than yesterday's thin crescent - it's 3% lit and
located nearly 9° above Mercury as the evening
twilight darkens. |
|
25th |
The waxing crescent Moon (13%
lit) lies just 3° to the northwest of brilliant
mag. -4.1 Venus in the evening twilight sky. From the UK,
the Moon will look as if it's off to the right of the evening
star. |
|
26th |
Tonight, it's Jupiter's turn for
a visit from the waxing crescent Moon (21% lit). The view
towards the west at 20:00 UT should be quite stunning with Venus,
the Moon and mag. -2.0 Jupiter relatively close together in the
dark sky. |
|
27th |
If you have a telescope, take a
look at Mars tonight. If the sky conditions are favourable
you should be able to make out the 'V' - shaped dark feature known
as the Syrtis Major. |
|
28th |
The crescent Moon (38% lit) lies
5° southwest of the Pleiades open cluster at
22:00 UT |
|
29th |
Despite having an extra day
thanks to 2012 being a leap year, February this year only has
three of the four primary phases of the Moon, a last quarter Moon
and a new Moon, but no first quarter phase. |
