* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: February 2013

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Eyes on the Sky: Feb 4 thru Feb 10

Blobrana · L

Last Quarter Moon (diameter: 32.079', declination: -16.91°) at 13:56.3 UT, 3rd February, 2013.

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The Moon occults Spica at 02:00 UT, 2nd February, 2013.

The event is visible from South Africa and the Indian Ocean.

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Meteor Showers

February has no major meteor showers but there are a couple of minor showers for Southern hemisphere observers, the Alpha and Beta Centaurids. Although the Alpha Centaurids is considered a minor shower, in some years the number of meteors rises enough to reach the level of a major shower. While Alpha & Beta Centaurids can occasionally be seen during most of the month, their peaks occur on the same night, in the early morning hours of February 8.

Shower	Activity Period	Maximum	Radiant		Velocity	ZHR
		Date	R.A.	Dec.	km/s
Beta Centaurids	1- 25 February	9 February	13.9h	-58.1°	58.9	13.2
Alpha Centaurids		9 February	14.5h	-59.8°	58.2	7.0
Pi Virginids	Feb.- 9 March	12 February
Beta Leonids	Feb.- 25 March	13 February
Delta Velids	Jan 22-Feb 21	14 February	08:44	-52°	35	1
Omicron Centaurids	Jan 31-Feb 19	14 February	11:48	-56°	51	2
Delta Leonids	Feb 15-Mar 10	22 February	11:12	+16°	23	2
Sigma Leonids		25 February	176°	+9°		2

Blobrana · L

Highlights

Objects of the Heart for Valentine's Day.

On February 14, many areas of the world will celebrate love with Valentine's Day. For those of you lucky enough to have a loved one of your own (or not), consider the following objects provided in the Heavens:
The first and most obvious is the planet of Venus, named after the Greek Goddess of love. Now, go over to the constellation of Cassiopeia, and you will find The Heart Nebula. Officially called by the decidedly less romantic "IC1805", the Heart Nebula glows a reddish hue (naturally!) at magnitude 6. Surrounding the delicate splash of diamonds, is the star cluster Melotte 15.
Next is the Rosette Nebula, NGC 2237. Located in Monoceros, this delicate planetary nebula is perhaps one of the prettiest in the sky. Zoom in with a field of view of 4 degrees, you will see beauty gracefully bloom on your screen unlike anything you're seen before. If the roses have done their job, you may at last want to consider the Ring Nebula, M57. Rising in the early morning hours during the winter, M57 is one of the easiest to locate deep-sky objects and one of the most aptly named, nestled gently in the side of Lyra, the Lyre. Low power telescope views show a very small blue/green disk, not much bigger than a star. Medium to high power will magnify the size of the nebula while leaving the surrounding stars the same size, confirming you have found it. Can be seen in binoculars as a faint star like point of light.

Blobrana · L

Mercury: at magnitude -1.1, starts the month in the constellation of Capricornus. Mercury is in conjunction with Mars (15.7' separated) at 17:57 UT, 8th February. Mercury is 4.39° from the Moon at 17:40 UT, 11th February. Mercury is in conjunction with Mars (4.2° separated) at 22:32 UT, 24th February. The planet is best seen from 17.0h -17.4h.
(On February 1st, RA=21h43m33s Dec=-15°25.5' (J2000) Distance=1.290AU Phase k=93% Diameter=5.2")

Venus: is at magnitude -3.9. The planet is in constellation Sagittarius at the start of the month. It is best seen from 7.9h -15.0h. Venus is in conjunction with Neptune (43.4' separated) at 13:37 UT, 28th February.
(On February 1st, RA=20h04m23s Dec=-20°58.9' (J2000) Distance=1.647AU Phase k=97% Diameter=10.1")

Earth: -

The Moon: Last Quarter Moon is in the 3rd. Lunar perigee is at 12:05.5 UT, on the 7th. The New Moon is at 07:21:14 UT, 10th. The First Quarter Moon (diameter: 29.629', declination: 19.26°) at 20:30.6 UT, 17th. Lunar Apogee is at 06:27.0 UT, 19th. The Full Moon (diameter: 30.958', declination: 4.34°) is at 20:26.1 UT, 25th February 2013.

Mars: at magnitude 1.2 starts the month in the constellation Aquarius. The planet is best seen from 17.4h -18.1h. Mars is 6.0° from the Moon at 17:30 UT, 11th February 2013.
(On February 1st, RA=22h08m04s Dec=-12°36.1' (J2000) Distance=2.296AU Phase k=98% Diameter=4.1")

Jupiter: is in the constellation Taurus. At magnitude -2.6, the planet is best seen from 16.6h - 4.1h. Jupiter is 3.4° from the Moon on the 18th (visible from southern Australia, the Moon occults Jupiter at 12:00 UT).

Transit times of the Great Red Spot and Jupiters satellites are posted in seprate threads.
(On February 1st, RA= 4h17m29s Dec=+20°45.1' (J2000) Distance=4.592AU Diameter=42.9")

Saturn: at magnitude 0.5 sits in the constellation Libra. The planet is best seen from 1.4h - 7.8h. Saturn is 4.36° from the Moon on the 3rd. The planet's rings are tilted 19° towards the Earth this month.
(On February 1st, RA=14h37m41s Dec=-12°48.9' (J2000) Distance=9.732AU Diameter=17.0")

Uranus: is in the constellation Pisces. Uranus at magnitude 5.9, has a bluish-green hue and appears 3.6 arcseconds wide. The planet is best seen from 18.1h -21.2h.
(On February 1st, RA= 0h21m11s Dec= +1°32.6' (J2000) Distance=20.639AU Diameter=3.4")

Neptune: is at magnitude 7.9 in the constellation Aquarius. The planet is lost to the evening twilight this month. Mars is in conjunction with Neptune (0.5° separated) at 20:56 UT 4th February. Mercury is again in conjunction with Neptune (24.8' separated) at 23:00 UT 6th February 2013.
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Pluto: is in the constellation Sagittarius (mag 14.2). Normally, a finder chart is necessary to help in identifying the 0.13" diameter dwarf planet. The dwarf planet is best seen from 18.5h - 6.3h. The Moon occults Pluto on the 7th.
(On February 1st, RA=18h43m17s Dec=-19°45.8' (J2000) Distance=33.209AU Diameter=0.1")

The Sun enters the zodiac sign Pisces at 12:02 UT, 18th February, 2013.