February 1998

by Steve Stefanik

A four day old waxing crescent moon will be less than 2 degrees from the planet Saturn tonight in the southwestern sky as the suns sets starting the month of February. This is the last month to get a good look at the ringed planet in the evening sky before it gets lost in the glare of the sun in the month of March. Saturn sets by 11:00 p.m. along with the constellation Pisces the fish. A new waxing crescent moon will rejoin Saturn just 7 degrees lower and to the right of the planet.

The planets Mars and Jupiter are much lower than they were last month hovering just above the southwestern horizon. Much dimmer +1.2 magnitude Mars is 6.5 degrees above and to the left of the much brighter -2.0 magnitude Jupiter as the month begins. Jupiter will reach conjunction with the sun on February 23rd and will reappear in the east at dawn in March. Mars on the other hand, is still moving eastward against the background of stars as one constellation after another slips behind it.

Venus is the only naked-eye planet in the east this month as Mercury is still too close to the sun to be seen. Look for the brilliant -4.6 magnitude planet an hour before sunrise. A slim waning crescent moon will pass within 1.5 degrees of it on the morning of the 23rd.

Uranus and Neptune lie east of Venus in the constellation Capricorn but are lost in the morning twilight.

Between the setting of the planets of Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn in the evening and the rising of Venus in the morning there is still much to see. The most obvious object is the brightest star in the sky, magnitude -1.5 Sirius, located in the constellation Canis Major (the big dog) hence its name the "dog star". Another bright star, +0.4 magnitude Procyon in the constellation Canis Minor (the little dog) is higher and to the left of Sirius. These are the hunting dogs of the mythological Orion the hunter which lies just to the right of the dogs which can be easily located by the bright red +0.5 supergiant star Betelgeuse which marks his right shoulder and the +0.1 blue supergiant star Rigel which marks his left foot as well as the line of three first magnitude blue-white stars Alnilam, Alnitak, and Mintaka which form his belt.

Other noticeable stars are the pair of first magnitude twin stars above and to the left of Orion in the constellation Gemini. They are the +1.1 creamy yellow star Pollux on the left and the creamy white +1.6 star Castor to its right. Higher and to the west of Orion and Gemini look for another bright +0.9 red star by the name of Aldebaran. This is the eye of Taurus the bull. A cluster of 3rd and 4th magnitude stars form the face and head of the bull known as the Hyades. Above and to the right of Taurus is another small cluster of seven stars which appear to look like a mini-dipper. These is the Pleiades (Charles Messier object M45) which is actually a cluster of several hundred stars but only 6 or 7 can be seen with the naked eye.

Above Orion, Taurus, and Gemini is another bright yellow +0.1 star Capella, the brightest star in the constellation Auriga the Charioteer.

Not far to the east of Auriga and Gemini is another bright +1.4 magnitude blue-white star Regulus the brightest star in the constellation Leo the lion. The moon, one day past full, passes 2 degrees below Regulus on the night of February 11th.

If these are not enough to keep you busy try spotting comet Temple-Tuttle through binoculars as it passes by Saturn through the constellation Pisces on its 33 year journey reaching perihelion (closest to the sun) on the 27th. It will appear as a 9th magnitude fuzzy star. Debris from the wake of the comet is the source of November’s Leonid meteor showers. This might mean that 1998’s rendition of these showers could be bountiful.