What's Up Above? February Stargazing

I’ll admit it, stargazing is difficult in winter. Especially in February. Even the hardiest hesitate. Yet, a crystal clear, cloudless night, dark as motor oil, still beckons you.  Resolve rises inside of you to “do it” and then you bundle up. Just a quick step outside and a fast glancing about for a few moments, you say to yourself to build the final push of motivation. So you do, and you do it. Outside looking up and turning south you are immediately rewarded by an impressive view of the imposing Orion constellation.

Underneath the winter celestial dome, the night and the sky feel much larger, more expansive. You may be momentarily mesmerized, outside in the depth of the cold. The Sky King, Jupiter, continues to reign supreme high overhead. A supremacy that is bold, resolute, undaunted, and unquestioned. It’s February, so love is in the air. This Valentine’s Day finds Venus, our goddess of beauty and love, reminding us of just how fleeting love can be as she glistens briefly brilliantly in the western sky at dusk.  All the while our hunter, the Orion constellation, continues to confuse love with lust in his pursuit of the Seven Daughters of Pleione and Atlas. Fortunately, this month he is blocked from his pursuit of the sisters a crescent Moon and the red left eye of Taurus the Bull. 

With events like this to celebrate and enjoy, why not wrap up the month with a parade? Strike up the band and let the parade of the planets begin!  If conditions are right you’ll see seven planets dotting an arc across our celestial dome’s southern sky. It is a spectacular sight to see and fortunately, you’ll have a few dusks to catch the parade. Speaking of spectacular sights, this month What’s Up Above? begins with the zodiacs. Specifically, the Zodiacal Lights.

A False Dusk. Zodiacal Lights, the Entire Month of February

Did your eyes narrow as you read the word “zodiacal?” What the heck? You are smart enough to know that the zodiacs are used in astrology, and that’s enormously different from astronomy. For the zodiacal light phenomena, let’s say the two are agreeable for the moment. And don’t forget, the first astronomers in ancient times were astrologers. Even more, always remember that astronomy was the first science.    

To begin, what is the zodiac? In astronomy it is a metaphorical belt in the night sky around the Earth where the middle of the belt’s width is the ecliptic. The ecliptic is the general path of the sun projected on the night sky. It is within this belt that spans 8 degrees above and below the ecliptic, where the twelve zodiac constellations and symbols of Astrology.

Zodiacal light is sunlight which is backscatters resulting from interplanetary dust. From the beginning of February through the remainder of the month, look to the eastern horizon about an hour before sunrise to see the zodiacal light. Get to a dark location outside city lights and gain some elevation if possible. The more elevation, the better. Now, look at the eastern horizon for a cone of light. A glowing shape where the base of the cone rests on the horizon and the tip points up along the ecliptic. The cone’s light glow is faint yet noticeable. The glowing cone is visible for about one hour after first sighting, and slowly recedes as dawn progresses.

Astro Mark Pro Tip: slowly sweep your vision broadly along the eastern horizon, left then right.  The zodiacal light is visible in the morning sky for a few weeks so make sure you get up early one clear morning to see the light. Once you see the zodiacal lights, you can’t unsee the light.

A Snowy Full Moon, February 1^st 

The Old Farmer’s Almanac states the Full Moon for February occurs on this day to reach its peak illumination at 3:09pm local time, which is well before sunset, thus the Moon’s peak illumination takes place during daylight. At that time, the Moon is in opposition to the Sun. This means that on this night when the Sun sets in the west, the Moon rises in the east close to the same time and is visible the entire night.

This Full Moon is called the Snowy Moon in that it arrives during the month that traditionally experiences the heaviest snowfalls in North America. Other common names for the February Full Moon are the Hungry Moon or the Bony Moon. Both reference food sources being difficult to find at this point in the winter season. The lesson that this Full Snowy Moon teaches us is that despite scarcity and harshness, we must keep our inner hearths blazing and strong. 

NASA tells us this heavy snowfall accumulation on the ground has a very high albedo. What the heck is “albedo?” It is a measure of how well a surface reflects sunlight and radiation. Snow reflects upward to 90% of the Sun’s radiation and light. Just like moonlight is sunlight reflected off the Moon. Snow is really good at reflecting light. Together, the Snow Full Moon with snow on the ground is close to one of our brightest nights of the year. Significantly brighter than a night illuminated by a supermoon.   

A Valentine’s Day Venus at Sunset, February 14^th    

In the month when Valentine’s Day garners so much attention, one can say that love is in the air. Also in the air is the second planet in our solar system, Venus. The Roman goddess of love, beauty, prosperity, desire, and victory glows overwhelmingly in the western sky at dusk. How appropriate is the moment, here is a chance to be with the one you love, while the goddess of love beams brightly and intimately upon you. Indeed, step outside, look up, and feel the love.

On the evening of the 14^th Venus, the goddess Julius Caesar claimed to be his ancestor now rides low in the western sky at an altitude of 5.6 degrees above the horizon. At sunset Venus sits almost directly below Mercury. Between the two, Venus will outshine Mercury as a visual magnitude of -4.9 and 1.2 respectively.

So make it a date to take your beloved outside this Valentine’s Day evening to partake in the beauty of our solar system’s only planetary goddess. Because like love, you don’t want to miss out, and more so, you shouldn’t. 

Mercury at its Evening Peak, February 20^th 

Our innermost planet, that shape-shifting trickster that can’t hold still, Mercury, attains its greatest altitude in the sky of 16 degrees above the western horizon during its evening apparition. Shining at a magnitude of -0.3 you can spot it as the next brightest point of light directly above Venus shining at a magnitude of 3.91, sitting a mere 8 degrees above the western horizon, resting on the edge of disappearing.

Following this peak, Mercury will fade rapidly as it approaches inferior conjunction, when it passes directly between the Earth and the Sun. At that point, the planet presents its is illuminated side toward Earth and appears as a very thin, faint crescent. Mercury is mostly visible during twilight making observing it in this phase especially challenging. As a result, the days leading up to February 20^th offer significantly better viewing conditions than those that follow the 20^th.

And wait, there’s more! The night prior, the 19^th, our winged messenger of the gods achieved its greatest elongation in its elliptical orbit from the Sun. This is when Mercury is farthest away from our home star. Even more, that same night, Mercury is at dichotomy – it reaches half phase in its evening apparition. Think of it as just like our Moon when it is half illuminated during its first quarter and then its last quarters. This all happens because our cosmic courier is moving to a position between the Earth and Sun, which occurs approximately every 116 days. Mercury’s got a lot going on in this 24-hour period. 

Strike Up the Band for a Parade of Planets, February 21^st – 28^th 

What a parade it will be indeed when Jupiter, the king of the sky, leads the way followed by Uranus, the Moon, Saturn and Neptune, Mercury, and Venus.

Between Jupiter, shining without equal in the southeastern sky at 6pm, to Venus hovering about the west-southwest horizon, sketch an imaginary arc that gently stretches across the night from the height of Jupiter’s altitude down to the nearness of brilliant Venus to the horizon.

When you watch this passing planetary parade between the 21th and the 28th, use your star-hopping skill to find the planets between Jupiter and Venus. (Full disclosure, to experience all seven of the planets, you’ll need binoculars to spy Uranus and Neptune.)

It is critical that you have an unobstructed view of the southern and western horizons, a viewpoint giving an open vista to the west, one that includes the point where the Sun just set as it is where you’ll see Mercury and Venus. The image above shows the location of the planets (blue dot and label) at sunset and shortly thereafter on the evening of the 21st.

Begin your arc to the western at the planet Jupiter and then from there locate the waxing crescent Moon to the west. Draw a slight downward arc from Jupiter to the Moon. At approximately three quarters of the distance on this arc resides the blue-hued open star cluster, the Pleiades above it. One pinky’s width below the cluster you’ll find the dull cool-green colored planet, Uranus. You’ll need your binoculars to view Uranus.

Next, continuing along your arc from our crescent Moon, extend it down to Venus. If Venus has set, use Mercury, the brightest object near the west-southwest horizon at that time. Travel three quarters of the way from the Moon to Venus along the arc, and stop. Look slightly below your imaginary arc for a point of light that is a soft cream, butterscotch color. That’s Saturn. To the more discerning eye, that point of light appears more oval than round. Grab those binoculars and look again, and you’ll see it is truly oval. Now, look sharper and avert your vision from the center of the binocular’s field of view, and you may notice a hint of Saturn’s rings.

Time for the prize. Place Saturn in the lower left of that round field of view you have when you look through the binoculars, and now without moving the binoculars, shift your glance to look up to the upper right of the field of view. There, distinctly blue is the planet Neptune. How cool is this?! Seeing a gas giant planet and an ice giant planet at the same time, in the same field of view– It doesn’t happen often.

If you can handle more planetary stimulation, then follow the arc down next to the yellowish-peachy colored planet Mercury, a somewhat dim yet brilliant pin prick of light. Finally finish our planetary parade by arcing down to the silvery, pearly white planet Venus, resting luminously on the edge of the west-southwest horizon.

Whew. Now that’s what I call a parade.

The Seven Sisters, the Moon, and the Red Eye of Aldebaran, February 23^rd 

In Greek mythology, Orion the Hunter has a thing for the daughters of Atlas and Pleione, the heavenly seven sisters. It was equally known the sisters didn’t have a thing for Orion. (I think the sisters were turned off by Orion’s proclamation that he alone possesses the ability to kill any of Earth’s creatures.) Undeterred Orion’s pursuit continued. It was only when Zeus transformed the sisters into doves, and then placed them in the stars with Taurus the Bull in-between them that the sisters found peace being forever safe from Orion.

This is why when you look up, you’ll see the constellation of Taurus the Bull between the constellation of Orion the Hunter, and the star cluster Pleiades, the seven sisters. Yet, the chase continues today. It is fortuitous then that during the night of the 23^rd and into the early morning hours of the 24^th, the Moon’s size hides this open star cluster we call the seven sisters giving them a bit of a reprieve from Orion’s relentless pursuit.   

Astronomers call this hiding (the Moon blocking our view of the Pleiades) an occultation. Specifically, an occultation is when one celestial body interrupts the light from another celestial body.

The Pleiades is a large and prominent open star cluster.  You can see it with your unaided naked-eye. It is bluish in color, a bit wider than the width of the Moon, and some say it looks like a mini Big Dipper. On the 23^rd after sunset, look to the southwest and find the Moon, one day past the First Quarter. The Moon is covering some of the cluster already. To the left of the Moon you’ll see the distinctly blue stars of the Pleiades. Over the remainder of the evening and into the early morning hours, the Moon will obscure part of the open cluster during its transit.

What makes this occultation special is the Moon’s light won’t be overwhelming which will allow you to see the blue stars of the cluster pass behind the Moon and then later reemerge. Since there are many visible stars in the Pleiades, you will see many stars playing hide and seek.

The moment when the Moon is surrounded by these seven sisters, is around 12:30am on the 24^th. It is a rare and gorgeous sight reserved for those few hearty souls stout enough to be outside at that wee hour. Do you have it in you? Yes, of course you do.

Night time in February is different. It’s darker, almost three dimensional. The shining luminous pin pricks of jeweled light are closer. You are amazed. Your mind and soul wander. Suddenly, the cold slaps you. The dream ends. The primal drive to find warmth shouts over the subtlety of the moment. 

That’s stargazing in February. It takes motivation and commitment to break from warm confines to then step out into the night’s bone chilling cold. Here’s an Astro Mark pro tip: Make many short excursions outside to look up at different predetermined objects. Maximize each trip out under our winter celestial canopy by admiring these celestial events.

You don’t have to be outside for long and it will be worth it. And I believe, if you go outside for 5-minutes, the next trip out will be for 15-minutes, and then the next trip out after that is….

Clear skies and Happy Valentine’s Day to you!