the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
Psalm 8:3,4
(From Astronomy and Sky & Telescope Magazines)
Sunday, February 23
We’re keeping our eyes on the southern sky this evening to catch Jupiter’s moons performing a celestial dance. Europa is nowhere to be seen … until 9:12 P.M. EST, when it pops into view from behind the northeastern limb. This reappearance is brief — three minutes later, Europa vanishes again, having slipped into Jupiter’s long, dark shadow.
About half an hour later, at 9:37 P.M. EST, it’s Io’s turn to disappear in an occultation as it moves behind the planet from our point of view. Then it’s a few hours of quiet — take some time to observe your other favorite deep-sky objects! — before Europa finally reappears at 11:54 P.M. EST, having cleared Jupiter’s shadow.
Monday, February 24
Mars stands stationary against the background stars of Gemini at 5 A.M. EST. The Red Planet is best observed in the evening sky when it is highest, so we’ll come back to it after sunset — but first, there’s a beautiful event low in the evening sky you won’t want to miss.
Tuesday, February 25
The Moon passes 1° south of tiny, distant dwarf planet Pluto at 5 A.M. EST.
Want to try for Sirius B, the famous white dwarf? Sirius A and B are still 11 arcseconds
apart, very near their widest apparent separation in their 50-year orbit. They will remain so for the next couple years before they noticeably start closing up again. The "Pup" is northeast of the Dog Star and 10 magnitudes fainter: one ten-thousandth as bright.
Wednesday, February 26
If you viewed Betelgeuse earlier in the week, you’ll already know that stars come in several different shades. To find it, look east a few hours after sunset for Leo the Lion, climbing upward in the sky. Look for the Sickle, a backwards-question-mark-shaped asterism that marks the Lion’s head. From there, glance to the lower left for magnitude 2.6 Zosma (Delta [δ] Leo). Once at Zosma, skim about 6° northwest to land on 54 Leo, a pair of stars.
Thursday, February 27
New Moon occurs this morning at 7:45 P.M. EST.
Friday, February 28The Moon passes 0.4° south of Mercury at 11 P.M. EST. This is another meeting you’ll want to catch in the early-evening sky, as the razor-thin crescent stands between Saturn and Mercury just after sunset.
Saturday, March 1
Now the crescent Moon, thicker and higher, hangs lower left of Venus as shown above (for North America). They're 6° or 7° apart. Look east after dark this week for the constellation Leo climbing nicely up in the almost-spring sky. Its brightest star is Regulus. The Sickle of Leo, about a fist and a half long, extends upper left from there. It's shaped like a backward question mark.
Leo's rear quarters and tail are a fist or so to the Sickle's lower left.
We’re keeping our eyes on the southern sky this evening to catch Jupiter’s moons performing a celestial dance. Europa is nowhere to be seen … until 9:12 P.M. EST, when it pops into view from behind the northeastern limb. This reappearance is brief — three minutes later, Europa vanishes again, having slipped into Jupiter’s long, dark shadow.
Monday, February 24
Mars stands stationary against the background stars of Gemini at 5 A.M. EST. The Red Planet is best observed in the evening sky when it is highest, so we’ll come back to it after sunset — but first, there’s a beautiful event low in the evening sky you won’t want to miss.
Tuesday, February 25
The Moon passes 1° south of tiny, distant dwarf planet Pluto at 5 A.M. EST.
Want to try for Sirius B, the famous white dwarf? Sirius A and B are still 11 arcseconds
Wednesday, February 26
If you viewed Betelgeuse earlier in the week, you’ll already know that stars come in several different shades. To find it, look east a few hours after sunset for Leo the Lion, climbing upward in the sky. Look for the Sickle, a backwards-question-mark-shaped asterism that marks the Lion’s head. From there, glance to the lower left for magnitude 2.6 Zosma (Delta [δ] Leo). Once at Zosma, skim about 6° northwest to land on 54 Leo, a pair of stars.
Thursday, February 27
Friday, February 28The Moon passes 0.4° south of Mercury at 11 P.M. EST. This is another meeting you’ll want to catch in the early-evening sky, as the razor-thin crescent stands between Saturn and Mercury just after sunset.
Saturday, March 1
Now the crescent Moon, thicker and higher, hangs lower left of Venus as shown above (for North America). They're 6° or 7° apart. Look east after dark this week for the constellation Leo climbing nicely up in the almost-spring sky. Its brightest star is Regulus. The Sickle of Leo, about a fist and a half long, extends upper left from there. It's shaped like a backward question mark.
Leo's rear quarters and tail are a fist or so to the Sickle's lower left.
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