February 2 is Ground Hog Day, but ever wonder why that date? It marks one of the cross-quarter days which, in this case, is half way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.
February 7 is the full Moon which in February is called the Snow Moon
February 9Venus (in the western sky shortly after sunset) the brightest "star" in the sky is in "conjunction" (close to) Uranus. They are separated by only one third of a degree (less than the width of the tip of your little finger held at arm's length).
Jupiter, the king of the planets, is outshined six times by closer Venus but is 10 times farther away. Jupiter is visible high in the southwest at nightfall above Venus. If you draw an imaginary line between Venus and Jupiter and extend it to both horizons, you are tracing the ecliptic or zodiac. The ecliptic roughly marks the orbital path of all the planets except lowly Pluto which has been recently downgraded to a dwarf planet.
The end of February on a clear moonless night (best viewed February 21-23) is the best time to look for the zodiacal light 1 to 2 hours after sunset slighly south of west. It will appear as a dim white misty long triangular spike. Around midnight, the Gegenschein or counter glow will be visible along the ecliptic high in the sky near the zenith. Both these phenomena are caused by the sunlight reflecting off the dusty disk of our solar system.
BINOCULAR HIGHLIGHTS
Throughout February the great winter constellation Orion The Hunter is visible most of the night and high and slightly south during the early to mid evening hours. Of particular interest to binocular observers is in the "sword" hanging from Orion's belt. The object in the middle of the sword that looks like a large fuzzy star is a huge nebula of gas and dust that is spawning new stars. This nebula was cataloged as M42 by the famous astronomer Charles Messier on March 4, 1769.
M42 is the fuzzy spot in the "sword" below Orion's 3 belt stars. Note the red giant star Betelgeuse which, in Arabic, means "armpit of the great one."
The red fuzzy spot in the lower left of this image is about how M42 will look in binocs.
Venus continues to rise from the west in the night sky on it's way to maximum elongation in March. It appears to be approaching Jupiter. Venus is in its "gibbous moon" phase and continues to brighten (already the brightest "star" in the western sky). On February 9, binoculars should capture Uranus as shown in this graphic.
TELESCOPIC HIGHLIGHTS DURING EARLY TO MID EVENING HOURS
HIND'S CRIMSON STAR (R Leporis)
Also known as the Vampire Star because of it's intense red color. It is a variable star with lots of carbon in it's outer atmosphere. The carbon absorbs all wavelengths exept red. When it's at its minimum brightness, carbon levels are high and the red color is even more pronounced. At maximum brighness, the star blows away its outer carbon atmosphere and the red dims to orange. Presently, it's about half way toward its minimum so the redness should be intensifying. The center star in the image on the left should be how it looks at medium power through a six inch telescope.
If you have a GO TO telescope or a mount with a clock drive, find this star in the telescope's computer data base or use the following coordinates: Right Ascension: 4 hours 59.6 minutes, Declination: minus 14 degrees 47 minutes. If you want to "star hop," find Rigel (the bright blue-white star marking Orion's lower right leg). Find Alpha Leporis (the center of Lepus the Hare below Orion). Visulaize a right triangle with the straight sides dropping down from Rigel and left across from Alpha Leporis. The Vampire Star is where these two lines cross.
The image to the right is how the Orion Nebula (M42) should look in in an 8" telescope using a 15mm eyepiece. M42 is a gigantic cloud of gas and dust where young hot stars are forming. It is a "star nursery" with the brightest ones forming in the center. This image is slightly overexposed, so the cluster of 4 very bright stars at it's center are somewhat blurred. In the telescope eyepiece, you should be able to see these stars with greater detail. Children under 12 years old can usually pick out several colors in the nebula. This image reveals dim red-pink and blue-violet hues. In a low power eyepiece, it's possible for adults to pick out at least the red color which is caused when hydrogen (the main element in this cloud) is ionized by the intense radiation coming from the 4 newborn stars in the center (the trapezium cluster). When viewing this nebula, it's essential that your eyes are dark adapted (no bright lights for at least 30 minutes) and that you use "averted vision"). Look away from the center of the nebula but keep it in the field of view. You also need to "bury your eye" into the flexible cup of the eyepiece if your aren't wearing glasses. If you use glasses, fold the cup down and allow the lens of your glasses to touch the eyepiece.
This is a view of M82, the Cigar Galaxy, as it would look in a 10mm eyepiece on a 12" telescope. Although not as detailed, it is easily visible in telescopes as small as 5 inches aperture. The structure of this galaxy is spiral shaped like our Milky Way, but we see it near edge on from our perspective. M82 has a "nearby" companion galaxy (M81) that is causing M82 to experience a star burst period. Stars are rapidly forming in M82 due to tidal gravitational forces between the two galaxies. This causes M82 to glow brightly in the infrared and near infrared frequency bands. If you view M82 through a night vision ocular, M82 brightens considerably even though it is about 12 million light years away from Earth. If you use a low power eyepiece (50mm or larger), you should be able to see M81 and M82 in the same eyepiece field.
M82 is above and to the right of the pot of the Big Dipper. Draw an imaginary line from the lower left side of the pot to the upper right side. Extend the line to the right equal to the distance between the two pot stars and there you will find M81 and M82.
M81: RA 9 hours 55.6 minutes DEC plus 69 degrees 4 minutes
M82: RA 9 hours 58.8 minutes DEC plus 69 degrees 41 minutes
