Whats Up - February

Sun and Moon
FULL MOON occurs just before midnight on the 7th, with the LAST QUARTER (half moon in the morning sky) falling on the 14th. NEW MOON  is on the 22nd. FIRST QUARTER (half moon in the evening sky) falls early in the following month (March).

On the 22nd the young lunar crescent will be visible with the naked eye from North America for the first time this month. It might also be visible with the naked eye under very good sky conditions from the extreme northern parts South America, Western Europe and the extreme northwestern parts of Africa on the same day. On the 23rd it will be visible under good sky conditions from most parts of the world, except the most southern parts of South America, southern Australia as well as New Zealand. First possible sighting from South Africa is predicted to be on February the 23rd.

On the 11th at about 08.30 PM the Moon will be at perigee (closest approach to Earth) at a distance of about 367 900 km. It will be at apogee (furthest from Earth) at a distance of about 404 900 km on the 27th  at about 04:00 PM.

Planetary and Other Events – Morning and Evening
Mercury is on the opposite side of the solar system as seen from the Earth on the 7th and so for most of the month it will not be visible as it will be lost in the glare of the Sun. It may be glimpsed very low in the west near the month’s end.

Venus will shine brightly as an evening star, setting well after night fall in the constellation of Pisces. Mars will rise early evening and remain visible until daybreak in Leo.

Jupiter (in Aries) is visible in the evening twilight setting more than three hours after the Sun. Facing west, Jupiter lies to the right of Venus and is the fainter of the pair.

Saturn (in Virgo) rises after nightfall and is well placed for observing after midnight. It is high in northern sky each morning. Uranus (in Pisces) may be glimpsed early evening in the first half of the month and will be close to Venus on the 10th. Neptune is too near to the Sun to be observed this month.

The Alpha Centaurids meteor shower is active from the 28th January to 21st February, peaking on 8th February 2012. To view the shower look south-east near the constellation of Centaurus for the Alpha Centaurids radiant. The best time to view the Alpha Centaurids is from around 22:00 to dawn when they will be right overhead. At peak there should be approximately 7 streaks an hour or more.

The Evening Sky Stars
The stars of Orion are high in the north on February evenings, with blue-white Rigel above and to the left of the three belt stars, and orange-red Betelguese below and to the right of them. Below and to the left of Orion is Aldebaran, brightest star in the Bull, with the Pleiades nearby in the NW at the Bull's shoulder. The Pleiades, according to the Namaquas, were the daughters of the sky god. When their husband (Aldeberan) shot his arrow (Orion's sword) at three zebras (Orion's belt), it fell short. He dared not return home because he had killed no game, and he dared not retrieve his arrow because of the fierce lion (Betelgueuse) which sat watching the zebras. There he sits still, shivering in the cold night and suffering thirst and hunger.

To the right of Orion is Procyon, brightest star in the smaller of Orion's two hunting dogs. Directly below (N) of Procyon are the stars of the Twins, with the dim stars of Cancer the Crab just to the right. Among the stars of Cancer is what looks to the eye like a fuzzy glow, but which binoculars show to be a cluster of stars, the 'Beehive'. Directly below Orion is brilliant Capella near the northern horizon, brightest star in the Charioteer. Capella is actually a system of four stars, consisting of a pair of luminous yellow stars and a pair of faint red dwarf stars. Above Orion's feet (he's upside down, as you'd expect for a constellation invented in the northern hemisphere) is the Hare, with Orion's Big Dog above Orion itself and to the right if you're facing north. The Big Dog boasts the brightest star in the sky, Sirius.

With Sirius nearly overhead, we have Canopus (second brightest star in the sky) high in the south near the Milky Way. Bright Achernar (Senakane, the 'Little Horn') is below Canopus and to the right for an observer facing south. The Water Snake and the Small Magellanic Cloud are below Achernar and to the left. Among galaxies separate from our own, the Small Magellanic Cloud is the second nearest, 'only' 200 000 light years away. We see it as a dim glow like a detached piece of the Milky Way -- and we see it as it was 200 000 years ago. This small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way is gradually being torn apart by the tidal forces it encounters each time it passes near our Milky Way's largest satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud.

This time of year is a great time for snakes in the sky. The Small Cloud lies partly in the southern Water Snake, while the giant monster Water Serpent is visible in the north. Directly to the right of Achernar are the stars of the Phoenix, with the Toucan directly below. The Toucan includes a particularly beautiful cluster of hundreds of thousands of stars, just visible to the naked eye as a dim fuzzy spot if there is no moon and there are no city lights interfering. This cluster, 47 Tucanae, occupies a volume nearly 120 light years across, and is roughly 20 000 light years away from us. Of the roughly 100 'globular clusters' that orbit the centre of our Milky Way galaxy, 47 Tuc is the second brightest.

The Milky Way runs almost due north and south in our skies in early evening this month, from the N into the SSW. The southern portion is very much the brighter, running through the constellations of the Poop Deck, the Compass, the Sails and the Keel (all parts of the ancient constellation of the great ship Argo), with Crux and the Centaur near the horizon.

Rising into eastern evening sky this month are Alphard, the orange star at the heart of Hydra the Water Serpent (lowish in the east at dusk), and Regulus in Leo (low in the northeast).

The Morning Sky Stars
The brilliant Milky Way in the morning sky runs from E to WSW, running from Scutum (the Shield), the Archer and the Scorpion through the Carpenter's Square, the Altar, the Wolf and the Drawing Compasses, before reaching the Centaur, the Cross and the Housefly, and finally the Great Ship Argo in the west. To the south of the Milky Way are the mostly dim stars of the Peacock, the Bird of Paradise, the Octant, the Chameleon and the Flying Fish.

High in the north, almost overhead, are the stars of Virgo, with blue-white Spica the brightest among them. Spica is actually a double star but unfortunately it is not resolvable with binoculars or a telescope. The two components are less than 32 million kilometers apart (the Sun-Earth distance is 150 million kilometers). The two stars orbit each other every 4 days. Keeping dangerous bears out of our southern sky is bright orange Arcturus, low in the north and brightest star in the constellation of Boötes, the bear-herd. Arcturus is the brightest star in the sky's northern hemisphere, and the fourth brightest in the sky. Arcturus is cooler and much larger than our Sun, radiating more than 200 times as much energy. At 26 times our Sun's diameter, Arcturus would extend a quarter of the way out the planet Mercury if put in the Sun's place. Unlike the Sun, it does not derive its energy output from fusing hydrogen to helium in its core, but has reached a stage in its life cycle where it converts helium into carbon.

A map of the Cape sky (latitude -34 deg)

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