Features: Calendar | Lunar Almanac | Monthly Topic
This Month's Night Sky - NOTE: The next paragraph describes the sky as it
appears at 10 pm EST (11 pm EDT) near mid- month. The sky also looks
this way at 11 pm EST (midnight EDT) during the beginning of the month and
at 9 pm EST (10 pm EDT) by month's end.
The "Winter Triangle" asterism shines high overhead. It
appears as an inverted formed by three bright stars: Sirius
(Canis Major) below, reddish Betelgeuse (Orion) upper
right, and Procyon (Canis Minor). Betelgeuse is also the
upper left member of my favorite asterism, hour-glass
shaped Orion. If you have a clear sky, look for a hazy
patch of light below Orion's middle "belt" star. That is
M42, the Great Orion Nebula, the site of intense star
formation. (At least it was some 1,600 years ago since it
took the light to reach you!) Other bright stars of
interest are Rigel, the bottom left star in Orion,
Aldebaran (Taurus) in the SW, Castor and Pollux (the
Gemini twins) high above the winter triangle and orangish
Arcturus (Bootes)right on the E horizon. The "Big Dipper"
of Ursa Major stands majestically high in the N.
MERCURY, appearing as a tiny first quarter moon, rises shortly after bright VENUS from the WSW horizon. Thus we have two "evening stars" this month. These are the first planets visible after sunset. A very dim MARS might also be visible during morning twilight. Look E to find SATURN, the queen of the night sky. Its rings, having been "closed" since 2003, are now opening. It is a splendid sight in a small telescope! Finally, JUPITER rises in the SE a couple hours before dawn.
Calendar of Events
NOTE: For those observers not in the ET zone, convert the calendar times to your zone's time by subtracting one hour for CT, two for MT and three for PT. Don't forget to adjust for Daylight Savings Time when necessary by subtracting one hour from your planisphere's time.; Dawn and dusk times must also be corrected. See your local newspaper, TV news, or cable TV's Weather Channel for sunrise and sunset times. Unfortunately some of these events may occur during daylight hours in your area.
| DATE | EVENT |
01 |
Tonight's full Moon (actually early tomorrow at 12:45 am) is called the Snow or Trapper's Moon. Note Saturn shining below and Castor and Pollux (Gemini) high above. |
07 |
Look low in the WSW for Mercury early in evening twilight
below and to the right of bright Venus. |
11 |
Just before dawn, the Moon and bright Jupiter shine in
the S. Can you find orangish Antares (Scorpius) glowing
between them? |
19 |
Look W to see a conjunction of Venus and the crescent Moon during evening twilight. |
23 |
Look for a conjunction of the open star cluster, the Pleiades (M45 in Taurus) and the first Quarter Moon. This is best viewed by binoculars. (A possible occultation in your area!) |
Lunar Almanac for February 2007
| Phases of the Moon | Phase and Date(s) | Best viewed before local midnight |
 |
New |
Deep Space Objects |
 |
1st. Qtr |
Planets & Moon |
 |
Full |
Moon |
 |
Last |
Deep Space & Planets |
Topic of the month: Lunar feature: Alpine Valley
| Lunar feature: Alpine Valley --See you next month ! |
| The above image was taken from Daniel Ethier's "Photos of the Moon " at Mr E's Home Page. It is reproduced here by permission. The original image may be modified for Astra's Stargate, "What's Up, Ron?" feature page. | |
This installment of "Whats Up?" is ©2007 Ronald A. Leeseberg, encoded by Dawn Jenkins for Astra's Stargate.
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