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February 2008

Skywatchers’ Guide for February 2008

A Total Lunar Eclipse on Wed. Feb. 20!

The full Moon in partial eclipse (progressing toward total eclipse) on Feb. 20, at 7:15 p.m. as seen from southern Arizona.
The full Moon in partial eclipse (progressing toward total eclipse) on Feb. 20, at 7:15 p.m. as seen from southern Arizona.

A superbly timed, and the most convenient total lunar eclipse until the year 2015 will occur just after sunset for North America (and much of the western hemisphere) on Wednesday, February 20. The Moon is conveniently placed in the eastern sky in the constellation Leo the Lion, for evening viewing. In addition this eclipse includes a rare bonus: The planet Saturn (just days from opposition) is just a few degrees from the Moon, along with Regulus, Leo’s brightest star. All three objects will fit within a binocular field of view.

The full moon will pass into the inner umbral shadow of the Earth and will be visible in partial eclipse rising over the eastern horizon at around 6:48 p.m. in Tucson, although novice sky gazers might not notice a distinct darkening around the Moon’s lower left edge until a few minutes after this time. The total portion of the eclipse will start at around 8:03 p.m. and will last almost 50 minutes until 8:51 p.m. local time (MST) for southern Arizona. This will be the last total lunar eclipse until the night of December 20/21, 2010 and the last such eclipse conveniently visible in the evening until September 27, 2015. All other eclipses from now until 2015 are in the late night hours after midnight, so this eclipse is not to be missed! Members of the public are invited to join Flandrau Science Center and the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association (TAAA) for public viewing of the eclipsed Moon, Saturn, and other celestial objects at Flandrau on the University of Arizona mall on Wednesday, February 20. The event is free however donations are encouraged. See the Observatory News section for more information.

PLANETS

The Moon and Mars overhead during evening twilight on Feb. 14 and 15 at 7 p.m. This sky chart is useful in middle February for much of the United States, southern Canada and northern Mexico.
The Moon and Mars overhead during evening twilight on Feb. 14 and 15 at 7 p.m. This sky chart is useful in middle February for much of the United States, southern Canada and northern Mexico.
Saturn in the eastern sky during the evening twilight of Feb. 24-28 at around 7:15 p.m. This sky chart is useful during the last week of February for much of the United States, southern Canada and northern Mexico.
Saturn in the eastern sky during the evening twilight of Feb. 24-28 at around 7:15 p.m. This sky chart is useful during the last week of February for much of the United States, southern Canada and northern Mexico.
The Moon, Jupiter and Venus in the southeastern morning sky during twilight on Feb. 2 at 6:15 a.m. This sky chart is useful for Feb. 1/2 for the southern United States and northern Mexico.
The Moon, Jupiter and Venus in the southeastern morning sky during twilight on Feb. 2 at 6:15 a.m. This sky chart is useful for Feb. 1/2 for the southern United States and northern Mexico.
The Moon, Jupiter and Venus in the southeastern morning sky during twilight on Feb. 15 at 6 a.m. This sky chart is useful into the third week of February for much of the southern United States and northern Mexico.
The Moon, Jupiter and Venus in the southeastern morning sky during twilight on Feb. 15 at 6 a.m. This sky chart is useful into the third week of February for much of the southern United States and northern Mexico.
Mercury, Venus and Jupiter in the southeastern morning sky during twilight on Feb. 28 at 6 a.m. This sky chart is useful for the last two days of February for much of the southern United States and northern Mexico.
Mercury, Venus and Jupiter in the southeastern morning sky during twilight on Feb. 28 at 6 a.m. This sky chart is useful for the last two days of February for much of the southern United States and northern Mexico.

Mars was as its best in late December and early January this winter and quickly shrinks in apparent size this month. Even so it’s worth looking at, especially in large telescopes early in the month. Mars is largest this month in early February at around 12 arc seconds in apparent size. This means early February is probably the last time to see surface features well with the eye in amateur telescopes, though amateur astronomers with imaging systems can still do well with imaging the Red Planet. During the month Mars fades from a bright magnitude -0.6 to a fairly bright magnitude +0.2 (or as bright as Saturn). Mars is conveniently high overhead in evening twilight, and is well placed for typical sharp telescopic viewing (the higher the altitude, the less air is being looked through). For this reason observers can take advantage of convenient evening telescopic during February when Mars is overhead in evening twilight. Like any planet, Mars should be viewed in a telescope when it is high in the sky. Best views of any planet should be when it is highest in the sky, but viewing is dependent on atmospheric stability and conditions, and of course, the quality and size of the telescope used. Large, high quality amateur telescopes in good “seeing” (stable atmospheric conditions) will best reveal any features on the Martian disk. Mars stopped in retrograde or reverse motion on January 30, and creeps out of the constellation boundary of Taurus the Bull and back into Gemini, the Twins this month. Finally, look for the waxing gibbous Moon near Mars overhead in our sky this month on the evening of Friday, February 15. The Mars Phoenix Mission, led by the University of Arizona, is en route to Mars with arrival on the north pole of Mars on Memorial Day weekend, 2008; For information on this first University led mission to another planet, click here.

February and March are great times to see Saturn and its ring system as Saturn and Earth will be closest during this time, and Saturn will be up all night long. Saturn brightens to a zero magnitude star-like object at magnitude 0.2 by the third week of February. Saturn is dimmer this year compared to previous ones because its rings are more edge-on. Saturn rises earlier each night in the constellation Leo the Lion and is very high overhead in the pre-dawn hours at start of the month. Saturn is still near (eight degrees from) Leo’s brightest star Regulus. On February 1 Saturn rises just after 8:30 p.m. but by February 24 Saturn rises at sunset, above the eastern horizon. Saturn’s opposition date will be on February 24, when it’s opposite from the Sun in the sky, and rises at sunset. This is four days before Saturn will be wonderfully (apparently) close to the totally eclipsed Moon on the evening of Wednesday February 20 (see above).

In early February 2008 the brilliant planet Venus is in the morning sky and is grouped beautifully with Jupiter starting around 2 hours before sunrise. The two planets are closest in the skies of Earth on February 1, when only 0.6 degrees apart in our sky. This is the closest such possible grouping (that’s easily visible) of the two brightest planets until the year 2014. Please note that Jupiter is usually the 2nd brightest planet in the sky but Mars can outshine it about every 15 years. Venus is losing altitude in our morning sky and starts to sink out of sight in our sky mid-month. It was above Jupiter during January but starting February 2, dimmer Jupiter can be found above Venus. By the end of February Venus is only a few degrees above the east-southeast horizon and is grouped with much fainter Mercury. Bright Jupiter gains altitude each morning this February in the southeastern sky. By the end of February the giant planet is easily seen almost 20 degrees above the southeastern horizon one hour before sunrise (from the southern United States).

Mercury is currently lost in the glare of the Sun but might be seen above Venus on the morning of February 27/28, starting one hour before sunrise (at around 5:53 a.m.). The MESSENGER spacecraft, the first to orbit Mercury, has finally arrived in its first flyby of Mercury. To see the latest images, and to find details about the MESSENGER spacecraft and the Mission Operations Center, click here.

Visitors to Flandrau’s 16-inch telescope should note that in early February, only Mars will be visible in the telescope during normal operating hours. Because of campus building obstructions Saturn should be visible in Flandrau’s 16-inch telescope by 9:35 p.m. on February 13 and by 9 p.m. on February 24. Mars and other celestial objects will be shown as well in the telescope, as they are normally during normal operating hours. Flandrau’s observatory telescope is open Wednesday through Saturday nights (excluding select holidays), weather permitting. The telescope normally closes at 10 p.m. Finally, remember that in spotting planets there is a general rule: “stars twinkle, planets don’t”. This is because stars are point sources of light; therefore starlight is easily disturbed and shifted by air currents in the Earth’s atmosphere. However when looking at Mercury and Mars this month, note that they may appear to twinkle somewhat; however, this twinkling is of a slower nature than the bright stars.

Zodiacal Light Visible

February is the best month, and Arizona is a superb place, to look for the Zodiacal Light in the western evening sky, starting 75 minutes after sunset. The Zodiacal Light is sunlight reflecting off of meteoritic dust in our solar system. Because this dust lies along the plane of the solar system, we see its faint glow as a cone of light along the constellations of the Zodiac. Often confused with light pollution or twilight, the Zodiacal Light must be seen on clear moonless nights, in dark locations far away from city lights. In February look for the faint colorless cone shaped glow of the Zodiacal Light to reach high up from the western horizon towards the Pleiades, or ‘Seven Sisters’ star cluster.

FEBRUARY EVENING STARS

The winter sky as seen facing south in early February at around 9:30 p.m, in middle February at 8:30 p.m. and in late February at 7:30 p.m. Planets are not shown on this sky chart.
The winter sky as seen facing south in early February at around 9:30 p.m, in middle February at 8:30 p.m. and in late February at 7:30 p.m. Planets are not shown on this sky chart.
The southern-most winter sky as seen facing south in early February at around 9:30 p.m., in middle February at 8:30 p.m. and in late February at 7:30 p.m. Planets are not shown on this sky chart. This chart is useful for the southernmost United States and all of Mexico.
The southern-most winter sky as seen facing south in early February at around 9:30 p.m., in middle February at 8:30 p.m. and in late February at 7:30 p.m. Planets are not shown on this sky chart. This chart is useful for the southernmost United States and all of Mexico.
The northern sky between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. in early to middle February. This chart is most useful for the southern United States, but can be used throughout the United States, in southern Canada and all of Mexico.
The northern sky between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. in early to middle February. This chart is most useful for the southern United States, but can be used throughout the United States, in southern Canada and all of Mexico.

From dark southwestern skies in early February look high above the southern horizon and overhead for the bright stars of winter (and the faint winter Milky Way) at around 8-9 p.m. Orange Betelgeuse, the shoulder of Orion the Hunter, shines left of Orion’s 3 glittering belt stars. Bright blue-white Rigel shines to his belt’s lower right. Below Orion is the smallish constellation Lepus, the Hare. The Gemini Twins, the bright stars Castor and the slightly brighter Pollux twinkle left of Orion. Look for the bright star Procyon (whose name means “Before the Dog”) right or southwest of Jupiter. From Tucson’s latitude the Dog, that is the “Dog Star” Sirius, the brightest star in all the heavens, rises almost at the same time as Procyon, so Procyon’s name isn’t so true this far south. Sirius can be easily found by taking Orion’s belt down or south to Sirius. Watch for brilliant Sirius to flicker different colors dramatically when low in the sky, a wonderful sight in binoculars. The flickering is due to Earth’s atmosphere.

The winter Milky Way can be seen, but only from dark skies far away from city lights, as a faint band of light starting south and east of Sirius and cutting clear across the sky north of Gemini into Auriga, the Charioteer. Very low in the south, when Sirius is highest, find the 2nd brightest star in all the night sky: Canopus. Canopus, twinkling dramatically and with vibrant colors, is only briefly visible and is not seen from most portions of the United States. The Big Dipper is easy to find rising every February in the late evening sky. Look for the Big Dipper above the northeastern horizon 3 hours after sunset (early in the month), and 90 minutes to 2 hours after sunset late in February. Take the two ends stars off of the bowl (the Pointer stars Dubhe and Merak) and point to Polaris, the North or Pole Star. Polaris is a star of ordinary brightness, and marks the end of the handle of the Little Dipper. Polaris is a direct indicator of latitude and so is always found the number of degrees above the northern horizon equal to an observer’s latitude. In Tucson look for Polaris about 30 degrees (or 3 fists) above the northern horizon. Polaris stays put in the sky, so to the eye it doesn’t appear to move. This is because Earth’s axis is pointed toward Polaris in space.

MOON PHASES

The new moon in February occurs on Wednesday February 6. The February first quarter Moon will occur on Wednesday evening, February 13th. The February full moon this year is called the Snow Moon by Native Amercians and it rises on the evening of Wednesday, February 20 and sets on the morning of Thursday February 21. The February 2008 last quarter Moon will occur on Friday morning February 29th, the leap day added this year.

Note: Additional information can be accessed by phone at Flandrau Science Center’s Astronomy Newsline at (520) 621-4310 or as a menu option at 621-S-T-A-R.

Graphics done using Starry Night Pro and Adobe Photoshop. To purchase Starry Night Pro go to http://www.StarryNight.com

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