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The night sky for February 2015
Northern Hemisphere
Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the northern hemisphere night sky during February 2015.
The constellation of Orion the Hunter is in the south in the evening, now a little towards the west. The three stars of his Belt point up towards Taurus the Bull, with its Hyades and Pleiades Clusters, and down towards Canis Major and the brightest of night stars, Sirius. Orion's top-leftmost star is the red giant Betelgeuse, and to its left are Canis Minor and the bright star Procyon. Above these stand the Gemini Twins, with the higher bright star of Castor and the lower of Pollux. Up and right of Gemini is Capella, a bright star in the constellation of Auriga, wherein binoculars also reveal the open clusters M36, M37 and M38. Leo the Lion rises in the east, and to the right of its bright star Regulus is the even brighter planet Jupiter, which outshines all the stars and other planets during the night.
The Planets- Jupiter reaches opposition (opposite the Sun in the sky) on the 6th, and is visible almost from dusk to dawn. At a maximum brightness of magnitude -2.6, it is highest in the sky around midnight. Jupiter moves westwards in retrograde motion from Cancer into Leo on the 4th, and it shrinks slightly in angular size from 45.3 to 44.6" during the month. A telescope reveals the planet's larger moons, its equatorial bands and, at the right times, its Great Red Spot.
- Saturn rises before dawn: around 03:00 UT (Universal Time) at the beginning of the month and 01:40 by its end. It is situated close to the leftmost star of the fan marking Scorpius' head and claws. It grows in apparent size from 16.2 to 16.9" during February, and shines at magnitude +0.5. Saturn's low elevation in the south-east - no more than 22 degrees - makes surface details fuzzy, but the ring system is visible as it has now opened out to 25 degrees from the line of sight.
- Mercury reached inferior conjunction (between the Earth and the Sun) on the 30th of January, so it appears low in the south-eastern pre-dawn sky only towards the end of February. It then achieves greatest elongation (largest angular separation from the Sun in our sky) on the 24th, but binoculars (to be used only before sunrise) may still be needed to see it.
- Mars is still resident in the evening sky, moving eastwards from Aquarius into Pisces on the 11th. It dims slightly from magnitude +1.2 to +1.3 over the month, while its angular size, decreasing from 4.4 to 4.3", prevents observation of surface details. It is best observed low in the southern-west as darkness falls, but sets some two hours after the Sun at month's end, and it is near to the much brighter planet Venus in the sky.
- Venus sets around 90 minutes after the Sun at the start of February and has a magnitude of -3.9. It is easily visible above the south-western horizon an hour after sunset if you have a low horizon, and, although it will appear fuzzy, refraction by our atmosphere may split its light into a spectrum when viewed through binoculars or a telescope. During the month, its angular size increases from 11 to 11.6".
- Jupiter is spectacular this month, reaching 55 degrees elevation around midnight each night. Venus and Neptune appear close together around 18:00 UT in the first few days of the month. Binoculars or a small telescope are required to spot Neptune at magnitude +8. Venus is 46' to Neptune's lower left on the 1st.
- Looking east before dawn on the 13th, a waning crescent Moon can be seen just 3.5 degrees to the left of Saturn.
- A thin, waning crescent Moon is 2.5 degrees to the left of Mercury in the south-east before dawn on the 17th.
- Mars and Venus lie within 2 degrees of each other from the 17th to the 26th. Seen about 1 hour after sunset, Mars is 8 degrees up and to the left of Venus on the 7th. Venus then rises rapidly, and lies to Mars' left on the 26th. Their closest approach is 23' on the 22nd, when binoculars or a telescope may be needed to perceive Mars against the glare of Venus.
- A thin, waxing crescent Moon is just 6 degrees to the right of Mars and Venus on the evening of the 20th.
- A first-quarter Moon passes in front of the Hyades Cluster on the 25th, moving within a few arcminutes of the red giant star Aldebaran just after midnight UT as the 26th begins. The star, at magnitude +0.8, is not near to the Hyades in space, but lines up with it in the sky.
Claire Bretherton from the Carter Observatory in New Zealand speaks about the southern hemisphere night sky during February 2015.
Venus is stunningly bright for an hour after sunset, low in the west. Mars, though fainter, is higher up to its right at the beginning of February, but it gets lower each night until it slips into the evening twilight at the end of the month. Venus and Mars are only 0.4 degrees apart on the 22nd. Jupiter is low in the north-east in the evening, and crosses the sky just in time to set at dawn. This is because it is at opposition on the 7th, and so is on the opposite side of our sky from the Sun. As well as being due north around midnight, it means that the planet is at its closest to us and appears as big and bright as it ever can.
Jupiter lies in the constellation of Cancer, which contains just five stars that are visible to the naked eye. However, Cancer does host M44 - the Beehive Cluster - at its heart, which is to Jupiter's north. At magnitude 3.7, it is visible to the naked eye and is one of the closest open clusters to the Earth. Galileo studied it with his early telescope and found about 40 stars, and around 1000 are now known. The bright star Regulus, in Leo, is on the other side of Jupiter and marks the Lion's head and mane. Shining at magnitude 1.35, it actually comprises four stars arranged in two pairs. The double star Algieba (the Mane), below Regulus, was first split by William Herschel in 1782, and its separation of 4" is a nice challenge for modern observers with telescopes of 8 centimetres or more in aperture. Leo rises higher in the north as the night wears on, and it also contains the Leo Triplet, consisting of the interacting spiral galaxies M65, M66 and NGC 3628. At 35 million light-years away, these provide the opportunity to witness the gravitational dance of galaxies in the local Universe. All three show tidal disturbance, with NGC 3628 exhibiting a tidal tail 300,000 light-years long. The Leo Triplet appears near the bright star Denebola and about halfway between the stars Theta Leonis (Chertan) and Iota Leonis. While M66 is visible in large binoculars, the other two galaxies can be found using a small telescope. A group of at least eight galaxies is nearby, including M95, M96 and M105.
The constellation of Gemini is on the other side of Cancer to Leo, and its bright stars Castor and Pollux, representing the Heavenly Twins, can be seen in the north after sunset. Although Pollux appears brighter in our sky, Castor is a system of no fewer than six individual stars. Eta Geminorum, at the foot of the figure of Castor, is near to the open cluster M35. While just visible to the naked eye, this group of stars makes a lovely sight in binoculars or a wide-field telescope.
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By Jodrell Bank ObservatoryNorthern Hemisphere
Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the northern hemisphere night sky during February 2015.
The constellation of Orion the Hunter is in the south in the evening, now a little towards the west. The three stars of his Belt point up towards Taurus the Bull, with its Hyades and Pleiades Clusters, and down towards Canis Major and the brightest of night stars, Sirius. Orion's top-leftmost star is the red giant Betelgeuse, and to its left are Canis Minor and the bright star Procyon. Above these stand the Gemini Twins, with the higher bright star of Castor and the lower of Pollux. Up and right of Gemini is Capella, a bright star in the constellation of Auriga, wherein binoculars also reveal the open clusters M36, M37 and M38. Leo the Lion rises in the east, and to the right of its bright star Regulus is the even brighter planet Jupiter, which outshines all the stars and other planets during the night.
The Planets- Jupiter reaches opposition (opposite the Sun in the sky) on the 6th, and is visible almost from dusk to dawn. At a maximum brightness of magnitude -2.6, it is highest in the sky around midnight. Jupiter moves westwards in retrograde motion from Cancer into Leo on the 4th, and it shrinks slightly in angular size from 45.3 to 44.6" during the month. A telescope reveals the planet's larger moons, its equatorial bands and, at the right times, its Great Red Spot.
- Saturn rises before dawn: around 03:00 UT (Universal Time) at the beginning of the month and 01:40 by its end. It is situated close to the leftmost star of the fan marking Scorpius' head and claws. It grows in apparent size from 16.2 to 16.9" during February, and shines at magnitude +0.5. Saturn's low elevation in the south-east - no more than 22 degrees - makes surface details fuzzy, but the ring system is visible as it has now opened out to 25 degrees from the line of sight.
- Mercury reached inferior conjunction (between the Earth and the Sun) on the 30th of January, so it appears low in the south-eastern pre-dawn sky only towards the end of February. It then achieves greatest elongation (largest angular separation from the Sun in our sky) on the 24th, but binoculars (to be used only before sunrise) may still be needed to see it.
- Mars is still resident in the evening sky, moving eastwards from Aquarius into Pisces on the 11th. It dims slightly from magnitude +1.2 to +1.3 over the month, while its angular size, decreasing from 4.4 to 4.3", prevents observation of surface details. It is best observed low in the southern-west as darkness falls, but sets some two hours after the Sun at month's end, and it is near to the much brighter planet Venus in the sky.
- Venus sets around 90 minutes after the Sun at the start of February and has a magnitude of -3.9. It is easily visible above the south-western horizon an hour after sunset if you have a low horizon, and, although it will appear fuzzy, refraction by our atmosphere may split its light into a spectrum when viewed through binoculars or a telescope. During the month, its angular size increases from 11 to 11.6".
- Jupiter is spectacular this month, reaching 55 degrees elevation around midnight each night. Venus and Neptune appear close together around 18:00 UT in the first few days of the month. Binoculars or a small telescope are required to spot Neptune at magnitude +8. Venus is 46' to Neptune's lower left on the 1st.
- Looking east before dawn on the 13th, a waning crescent Moon can be seen just 3.5 degrees to the left of Saturn.
- A thin, waning crescent Moon is 2.5 degrees to the left of Mercury in the south-east before dawn on the 17th.
- Mars and Venus lie within 2 degrees of each other from the 17th to the 26th. Seen about 1 hour after sunset, Mars is 8 degrees up and to the left of Venus on the 7th. Venus then rises rapidly, and lies to Mars' left on the 26th. Their closest approach is 23' on the 22nd, when binoculars or a telescope may be needed to perceive Mars against the glare of Venus.
- A thin, waxing crescent Moon is just 6 degrees to the right of Mars and Venus on the evening of the 20th.
- A first-quarter Moon passes in front of the Hyades Cluster on the 25th, moving within a few arcminutes of the red giant star Aldebaran just after midnight UT as the 26th begins. The star, at magnitude +0.8, is not near to the Hyades in space, but lines up with it in the sky.
Claire Bretherton from the Carter Observatory in New Zealand speaks about the southern hemisphere night sky during February 2015.
Venus is stunningly bright for an hour after sunset, low in the west. Mars, though fainter, is higher up to its right at the beginning of February, but it gets lower each night until it slips into the evening twilight at the end of the month. Venus and Mars are only 0.4 degrees apart on the 22nd. Jupiter is low in the north-east in the evening, and crosses the sky just in time to set at dawn. This is because it is at opposition on the 7th, and so is on the opposite side of our sky from the Sun. As well as being due north around midnight, it means that the planet is at its closest to us and appears as big and bright as it ever can.
Jupiter lies in the constellation of Cancer, which contains just five stars that are visible to the naked eye. However, Cancer does host M44 - the Beehive Cluster - at its heart, which is to Jupiter's north. At magnitude 3.7, it is visible to the naked eye and is one of the closest open clusters to the Earth. Galileo studied it with his early telescope and found about 40 stars, and around 1000 are now known. The bright star Regulus, in Leo, is on the other side of Jupiter and marks the Lion's head and mane. Shining at magnitude 1.35, it actually comprises four stars arranged in two pairs. The double star Algieba (the Mane), below Regulus, was first split by William Herschel in 1782, and its separation of 4" is a nice challenge for modern observers with telescopes of 8 centimetres or more in aperture. Leo rises higher in the north as the night wears on, and it also contains the Leo Triplet, consisting of the interacting spiral galaxies M65, M66 and NGC 3628. At 35 million light-years away, these provide the opportunity to witness the gravitational dance of galaxies in the local Universe. All three show tidal disturbance, with NGC 3628 exhibiting a tidal tail 300,000 light-years long. The Leo Triplet appears near the bright star Denebola and about halfway between the stars Theta Leonis (Chertan) and Iota Leonis. While M66 is visible in large binoculars, the other two galaxies can be found using a small telescope. A group of at least eight galaxies is nearby, including M95, M96 and M105.
The constellation of Gemini is on the other side of Cancer to Leo, and its bright stars Castor and Pollux, representing the Heavenly Twins, can be seen in the north after sunset. Although Pollux appears brighter in our sky, Castor is a system of no fewer than six individual stars. Eta Geminorum, at the foot of the figure of Castor, is near to the open cluster M35. While just visible to the naked eye, this group of stars makes a lovely sight in binoculars or a wide-field telescope.