Highlights: Comet Journal, Martian Landers, Bright Stars, Planet Plotting, Meteors, February Moon
Focus Constellations: Cassiopeia, Camelopardalis, Perseus, Auriga, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Lynx, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Draco, Cepheus
Comet Journal
C/2007 Q3 (Siding Spring) achieved 9th magnitude in January as it moved into Coma Berenices. It may remain at 9th magnitude or even reach 8th magnitude as it approaches perihelion at 1.59 AU from the Sun on February 22nd. As it continues journeying through Bootes and into Draco this Spring, it is expected to rapidly decline in brightness as it ascends far above the plane of Earth's orbit into northern skies.
Comet 81P/Wild 2 (2010) is moving westward through Virgo and will pass north of Spica in early February. It is paralleling the orbit of the Earth as it moves along the ecliptic near the orbit of Mars. It passes perihelion on February 13th and may reach 9th magnitude when closest to Earth as we catch up in April. It then will fade as it retreats into the asteroid belt this Summer.
Two Spring/Summer comets which are now quite dim may rise to 9th magnitude or better in March - C/2009 O2 (Catalina) and June - C/2009 R1 (McNaught). The latter may even achieve 4th or 5th magnitude which will make it the brightest comet in the past 12 months.
Martian Landers
On Sol 2121 (Jan. 11, 2010), Opportunity completed its two month examination of Marquette Island, the unusual rock found on plains of Meridiani. The rover resumed its journey toward Endeavour Crater on Sol 2122. From January 15-20, 2010 (sols 2125 - 2130), Opportunity drove southward toward a relatively young impact crater, estimated to be about 1,000 years old. Concepcion Crater is thought to be the youngest Martian crater yet found by the rover.
As of Sol 2130 (Jan. 20, 2010), the total odometry on Mars was 19,216.21 meters (11.94 miles).
Spirit has been converted from the mobile rover which ranged far and wide over the surface of the low latitudes of Martian southern hemisphere in the last six years to a stationary science station which will utilize tools on its robotic arm to study variations in the composition of nearby soil, which has been affected by water. The stationary science also includes watching how wind moves soil particles and monitoring the Martian atmosphere. In addition, Spirit has begun measuring tiny wobbles in the rotation of Mars to gain insight about the nature of the planet’s core. This requires months of radio-tracking the motion of a point on the surface of Mars to calculate long-term motion within an accuracy of a few inches.
Recent attempts to move the rover have been somewhat successful. However, winter is due to start in May, and Spirit's southward tilt must be adjusted to intercept more sunlight if it is to survive the cold temperatures as the Sun sinks into the north. The adjustment must be made by mid-February since by then there will be insufficient solar gain to power further driving. Mission scientist plan to use the remaining drives to tilt the rover to the north by driving backward and slightly uphill to lift the rear wheels out of their ruts. The right-front wheel may be dropped into one of the ruts or a hole may may be dug to help lower the front right corner of the rover.
If the attempts are successful Spirit may survive winter and continue its long and illustrious history. As of Sol 2150 (Jan. 19, 2010), total odometry on Mars was 7,730.24 meters (4.80 miles) and is likely to remain the same until at least next year.
Bright Stars
February may for some observers be the month with the most spectacular sky. In addition to the bright 1st magnitude planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, nine 1st magnitude stars decorate the southern, central, and eastern sky. In the SSW the blue-white supergiant Rigel (0.1) and the red supergiant Betelgeuse (0.5) in Orion, the hunter form the northwestern side of a bright quadrangle with brilliant blue-white Sirius (-1.4) in Canis Major as the south point and Procyon (0.4) in Canis Minor on the southeast.
Four stars including Aldebaran (0.9) in Taurus, Capella (0.1) in Auriga the Charioteer, and Castor (1.6) and Pollux (1.1) in Gemini the Twins encircle the zenith and Regulus (1.4) in Leo the Lion lights up the eastern sky.
Planet Plotting
Venus (-3.9) and Jupiter (-2.0) dominate the early evening western skies in February. After passing superior conjunction with the Sun in January, Venus will gradually ascend in the western sunset sky and pass Neptune on the 7th. The latter reaches conjunction with the Sun on the 14th. Venus is easily observed after the 10th in Aquarius. Venus and Jupiter are in closest proximity in the same constellation low in the western sky on the 16th. Jupiter then disappears into sunset in the last half of the month as it approaches conjunction with the Sun on the 28th. Sharp eyed observers may see Uranus (+5.9) in Pisces above Jupiter and Venus.
Mars passed through opposition at the end of January and decreases in brightness in February from -1.3 to -0.6 as its disk narrows in width from 14 to 12 arcseconds. It rises in Cancer before sunset and doesn't set until just before dawn. Saturn (+0.7) rises before 11PM in Virgo early in February and about 9PM at month's end. It doesn't set until after dawn. Mercury is visible in early February when it rises just before the Sun in Sagittarius. It will then sink into sunrise as it approaches superior conjunction with the Sun in mid-March.
Planet......Constellation............Magnitude......Planet Passages
Sun.........Capricornus/Aquarius....-26.8
Mercury..Sagittarius/Capricornus..-0.2 to -0.6....Neptune,1.7°NNW,
............/Aquarius............................................. 9AM EST, 2/27
Venus..Capricornus/Aquarius.......-3.9.............Neptune, 1°NNW, ........................................................................Midnight, 2/7 ................................................................Jupiter, 0.54°NNW, .....................................................................9PM, EST, 2/16
Mars.......Cancer......................-1.3 to -0.6
Jupiter.....Aquarius....................-2.0..............Venus, 0.54°SSE, ....................................................................9PM, EST, 2/16
..................................................................Sun conjunction
.......................................................................6AM EST, 2/28
Saturn......Virgo................+0.7 to 0.6
Uranus.....Pisces...............+5.9
Neptune...Capricornus........+8.0.......................Venus, 1°SSE, ......................................................................Midnight, 2/7
..................................................................Mercury,1.7°SSE,
.......................................................................9AM EST, 2/27
..................................................................Sun conjunction
.......................................................................6PM EST, 2/14
Meteors
The Alpha Centaurids are February's best meteor shower for southern observers. The shower peaks on the night of the 8th & 9th during the waning crescent phase of the Moon. The meteor shower may achieve rates of 25+ per hour shooting up from the SSW horizon well before dawn for those favored with clear skies lacking significant light pollution. Northern observers will have difficulty with this shower but may view the minor Delta Leonid shower culminating at 5 to 10 meteors per hour after the gibbous Moon sets before dawn on the 24th.
February Moon
The Full Moon of February is in Scorpius at 11:38AM EST on the 27th. It has traditional been known as the "Wolf, Snow or Hunger Moon". It was the "Trapper's Moon" for colonial Americans and the "Storm Moon" for medieval English. The Celts referred to it as the "Moon of Ice" and the Chinese call it the "Budding Moon". The Anishnaabe (Chippewa and Ojibwe) call it "Namebini-giizis" (Sucker Moon).
The length of this lunation (#1078) is 29.8 days.
Planet....Constellation...Magnitude..Moon Passage..Moon Phase/Age
Sun......Capricornus......-26.8..........9:51PM EST. 2/13
..............................................................................New ~ 0 days
Mercury.Capricornus.....-0.2...........2.0°N, 1AM EST, 2/12
.................................................Waning Crescent ~ 27.95 days
Venus..Aquarius...........-3.9............5.0°NNW, 4PM EST, 2/14
...................................................Waxing Crescent ~ 0.76 days
Mars......Cancer...........-0.7..............5.1°SSW, 9PM EST, 2/25
....................................................Waxing Gibbous ~ 11.96 days
Jupiter...Aquarius..........-2.0............4.6°NNW, 8PM EST, 2/14
....................................................Waxing Crescent ~ 0.92 days
Saturn....Virgo.............+0.7.............7.5°SSW, 4PM EST, 2/2
....................................................Waning Gibbous ~ 18.58 days
Uranus.. Pisces.............+5.9............5.4°NNW, 10AM EST, 2/16
....................................................Waxing Crescent ~ 3.01 days Neptune.Capricornus......+8.0..........3.5°NW, 10PM EST, 2/13
....................................................Waxing Crescent ~ 0.09 days
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