I hope the New Year finds you all raring to get out there and find all the adventures and challenges that our beautiful skies have to offer!  Of course, the minus temperatures demand dressing carefully to keep warm but the crisp, clear vista overhead that comes with the below zero weather sure makes it worth it. I won’t tell you how to dress to fend off icicle formation at the end of your nose since we should be winter experts by now but here’s some tips that you might find useful.  Wear your warmest boots.  It is surprising how much heat is lost through your feet while standing out in the snow.  Use hand warmers wrapped around your binoculars to keep the eyepieces (ocular lenses) and the objective lenses frost free (and your hands warm!).  Wear the warmest hat that you own to avoid your ears falling off and your brain turning into an ice cube.   Dress yourself in layers to trap body heat. I sneak inside every now and then for something scalding hot to recuperate.

You might be able to catch a glimpse of Comet 45P as it passes through Aquarius at mid month.  You will have to go out with your binoculars as soon as it’s dark in order to find it before Aquarius sets in the west.

This month:
12th:  Full Moon. It is known as the Full Wolf Moon.   Watch out!  They’re pretty hungry this time of year.
18th:  The Moon is just north of Jupiter near midnight.
24th:  The Moon is north of Saturn about 5 am.
31st:  If you want to try seeing bright Venus in daylight, look for the Moon to pass about 4 degrees south of Venus about 10 am.                                             
At around 8 pm, the Moon is about 2 degrees south of Mars.

February should find us back on a post holiday schedule for this column.  In the meantime, have a good month, Happy New Year and keep looking up!  You can email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to ask questions or report any unusual sights in the night sky. 

Clear Skies! Fred

To track down the celestial event that occurred 2000 years ago that might be interpreted as the Star of Bethlehem, we must have a reasonably accurate idea of when Jesus Christ was born.  Theological historians place the birth of Jesus in September or October in 3 or 2 BC.  They researched several historical facts derived from biblical accounts in Matthew and Luke to arrive at that date.  These facts included the date of the census taken at that time, who was ruling Judea and Syria and the death of Herod in 1 BC. 

First, it must be noted that in ancient times the word ‘star’ could be interpreted several ways.  It could be any bright object that traveled across the sky.  We can discount a meteor shower or Supernova as the Star of Bethlehem.  Accounts require that the bright object appear in the eastern sky, cross the starry background and move before the Magi to Judea.  Meteors travel quickly across the sky and a shower lasts only a short time.   No Supernova was reported during the period we are investigating.  We can also discount comets because they were considered to be signs of evil and bad omens.  That leaves us with planets or groupings of planets to match the biblical description and there are a series of conjunctions that roughly fit our time period.  A conjunction is when 2 or more planets and/or stars come close to each other.

Matthew relates that the star appeared in the rays of the rising Sun.  On August 1, 3 BC, Jupiter rose up in the light of dawn.  At 5 AM on August 13th, Jupiter and Venus were very close together.  A few days later on the 18th Venus and Mercury appeared at dawn in a conjunction.  On September 14th Jupiter was in conjunction with the very bright star Regulus.  Jupiter and Venus, the 2 brightest planets in the sky, were so close, they appeared to fuse together.  A grand conjunction of planets occurred on August 27th when Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and Venus were a tight bundle at sunrise.  By mid October the Magi saw Jupiter above Bethlehem.  Jupiter had reached its farthest point west and stood still against the stars high in the sky above Bethlehem.

Many will argue for other astronomical explanations for the Star of Bethlehem. For me, the above series of conjunctions best explains the brightness in the sky that guided the Magi.
I have given you an astronomer’s explanation of the symbol of the Star of Bethlehem shining with all the stars in the heavens above. I leave it to you to mix your faith with the wonderful miracles of the universe. To me this star symbolizes all the wishes for hope and joy and friendship during this holiday season.

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

I remember a Christmas Day some 15 years ago when a ¾ partial eclipse of the Sun occurred at midday.  It was a cool, clear day and I was out there with my tripod and camera (a primitive DSLR) taking time lapse photos of the event while family and friends were inside celebrating the day and looking forward to a great Christmas feast.  They finally dragged my frozen body inside to carve the turkey!  I’m not saying that you gentle readers should be as fanatical as me but with the extra free time that the holiday season provides, it’s a golden opportunity for some early evening observing.

There’s certainly plenty up there.  If you go out about 8 pm and look straight up towards the zenith, you will find the W shape of Cassiopeia.  A little to the east is Perseus with the famous double cluster right between them.  The double cluster is spectacular and easy to find in binoculars. Directly south is the constellation Andromeda.  Its infamous galaxy Andromeda is due to plow into us denizens of the Milky Way in about 4 billion years.  We have a few years to prepare for that.  Andromeda is attached to the north east corner of the great square of Pegasus. There are wondrous sights in and around it.  Cygnus the swan is heading for the western horizon and its crucifix shape is still quite prominent.  There are so many objects to see in binoculars in its area.  The 3 stars of the summer triangle, Altair, Lyra and Deneb are easy to find in early evening.  Can’t call them the summer triangle anymore; more like the blizzards are coming trio! Here’s a challenge.  Towards the northern horizon are the big dipper and the little dipper – Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.  Running from the north west side of them and between them, is the constellation Draco.  It’s definitely a challenge to trace all the stars that make up that snake like constellation.  Get some star charts and go hunting!

Now let’s see what’s going on this month.

Dec. 3rd: At 8am you should still be able to make out bright Venus as the Moon passes 6 degrees north of it.

Dec. 5th: The Moon is positioned just 3 degrees north of Mars at 6am.

Dec. 13th: The Geminid Meteor shower peaks.  Watch for meteors in the days before and after this date.  It’s usually a pretty good show but this year the peak is on the same night as the Full Moon.  This month’s full Moon is called the Full Cold Moon for obvious reason.  It is also called the Long Night Full Moon.  The nights are longer and since the Moon is higher in the sky, it stays up longer.

Dec. 20th: Last quarter Moon.

Dec.21st: Winter Solstice.  It is the shortest day of the year.  Also marks the first day of winter.  As far as I’m concerned winter started back in October - crazy!  

Dec. 22nd: Ursid meteor shower peaks.  Because of the Full Moon on the Geminid peak night, this smaller shower will probably put on a better show.  There won’t be much of a Moon in the sky.

Dec. 27th: The Moon passes close north of Saturn.

Dec. 29th: New Moon.

To all, may there be many stars in your future and keep looking up.  I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

If you have any questions or special topics that you would like to see in this column, please email me or make contact though this newspaper. Let me know how your observing has gone this month, especially anything unusual.  I enjoy the feedback.   You can contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Clear Skies!  Fred.

“The Beginner’s Observing Guide by Leo Enright is an invaluable companion for adventures in the sky.  It contains star charts and is available at the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy.  It can also be ordered from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada at www.rasc.ca/publications.  A subscription to our very own excellent Canadian astronomy magazine “SkyNews”, with its centerfold sky chart, can be arranged at the RASC website as well.

This month we have one of the better annual meteor showers, the Orionids. The earliest meteors from this shower will start arriving in a sky near you about October 2 and continue to flash across the sky until about November 7. The shower is predicted to peak on October 21 and as many as 70 meteors have been seen in the past. This year the experts are expecting a more modest 15 to 25 meteors per hour.

When observing a meteor shower, you can trace the meteor trails back to a single area in the sky. This point is called the radiant. The meteor shower is named for where the radiant is situated. The Orionid radiant sits in the Orion constellation near where it borders with the constellations Gemini and Taurus. The Orionids are left over debris from Halley’s Comet and this material is scattered all along its orbital path. The meteors are travelling quite briskly at 66 km/hr and at this high speed, produce a larger number of fireballs than a typical meteor shower.

Unfortunately, this year the Moon will be waning gibbous. It will be about 55% the brightness of a Full Moon. This will obscure seeing some of the fainter meteors. Waning means that the Moon is past full and the term gibbous indicates that it still has a bright crescent shape to its bright area.

Let’s review a few good practices for meteor observing. Dress warmly! A cool autumn evening will suck the heat from your body faster than an eye blink and drive you back indoors. Wear a hat, a warm coat and boots. To minimize the Moon’s brightness, position yourself so that the Moon is at your back. Trees and/or a building help too. Remember that meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. It’s not necessary to be looking in the direction of the radiant. Make yourself comfortable. A blanket or sleeping bag on the ground or a stable lawn chair minimizes distractions.

The great thing about meteor observing is that you don’t need any equipment other than your eyeballs. The meteors travel too fast and leave too large a trail to follow with binoculars or a telescope. It’s just you and the wide open night sky!

Here’s a fun thing to do: use a sheet of paper to represent the night sky. Make a mark to indicate the constellation Orion. Draw a line, short or long, to show size and direction of the meteors you see. At the end of the evening use a ruler to extend all the lines back. Most should end up in Orion. Any lines that don’t meet in Orion are called ‘sporadics’. They are random bits from who knows where. Some are probably from ancient comets that no longer exist.

The Draconids (constellation Draco) is another shower to watch for in late October. They have been quite spectacular in the past but are not expected to be a great show this year with maybe 10 or so meteors per hour expected.

On October 10th the Southern Taurids (constellation Taurus) peak. This is a minor shower and about 5 meteors per hour are predicted. In early November we can expect a good show from the Northern Taurids. There are a few more fine showers in November and December and I will give you a heads up on them in my next column.

We are in the midst of the best time of the year for astronomy. We have cool, clear nights and darkness falls earlier and earlier as the month progresses.

Venus is bright in the southwest evening sky with Saturn sitting above it. Venus will pass south of Saturn on October 30th. Above these 2 in the sky will be Mars in the south. In the east Mercury and Jupiter can be observed in early October about an hour and a half before sunrise.

October 6th: The Moon passes above Saturn about 4 am.

October 10th: Jupiter is just 1 degree south of Mercury.

October 15th: For those of you with telescopes here’s a challenge. Uranus is in opposition and will be at its brightest. Check the internet for a star chart to help find it in the sky. While you’re at it, check out Neptune and Pluto.

October 16th: Full Hunter’s Moon. Be sure to wear your orange vest when you walk the dog. Put a vest on the dog too!

October 21st: Orionid meteor shower peaks.

October 28th: Moon is 1 ½ degrees north of Jupiter.

October 30th: Venus will be 3 degrees south of Saturn in the early morning around 4 am. New Moon

Let me know how your meteor observing has gone and if some of you more experienced readers were able to find Uranus, Neptune or Pluto.

Well, that’s a wrap. Have a good month and keep looking up!

You may contact Fred Garrett through this paper or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Beginner’s Observer’s Guide by Leo Enright is available at the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy or by contacting the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada www.rasc.ca/publications, subscriptions for our very own excellent Canadian astronomy magazine, Sky News, are also available from RASC..

One of the biggest announcements in astronomy recently was the discovery of a planet orbiting the star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun.

First, let’s look at a bit of introductory information. Proxima Centauri is part of a trinary star system called Alpha Centauri, which is about 4.4 light years from our Sun. The system is made up of a pair of stars called Alpha Centauri A and B. One star is a little smaller than the Sun and the other a bit bigger.

The 3rd member is Proxima Centauri and it is a small red dwarf star. Although scientists are not absolutely positive, it is more than likely that Proxima is gravitationally bound to the AB pair at a distance of about 0.24 light years. So what is the big deal about Proxima besides it being our closest star? Well, it has a special exoplanet (technically a planet that orbits a star other than our Sun). The special part of that exoplanet, called Proxima b, is that it is a rocky planet like Earth and orbits within the “goldilocks” zone of its star. The “goldilocks” orbital area is where conditions are similar to those on Earth and water can flow freely – life could be possible!

The Proxima system is close enough to perhaps visit and certainly close enough to study in more detail. One method of discovering exoplanets is to measure the Doppler shift of the parent star as it moves back and forth in response to the mass of the planet orbiting about it. In the case of Proxima b, that movement amounts to a velocity change of 3 kilometers per hour! That’s an incredible measurement. The mass of the goldilocks planet is about 1 ½ to 3 times the mass of the Earth. Since Proxima Centauri is a small red dwarf, its goldilocks zone is quite close to it. The planet is about 5% of the distance of the Earth to our Sun and a “year” is roughly 11.2 days.

Red dwarfs are prone to bursts of radiation, which complicates its habitability. Further complications include finding out what type of atmosphere it has. Since it is so close to its star, it is likely tidally locked to Proxima. Our Moon is tidally locked to the Earth and only shows one face to us. One side of Proxima b would be hot and the other cold. If the atmosphere were thick, thermodynamic heat flow would allow the temperatures to even out. It is probable that if there were life, it would be at the microbial level.

Proxima is near enough that we could possibly send probes there in a travel time measured in decades – 20 plus years or so. A very rich Russian, Yuri Milner, in partnership with prominent scientists, including Steven Hawking, are proposing to send thousands of small probes to Proxima. They would have large light sails attached to them. A laser would be aimed at the sails from Earth and they would be accelerated to 20% of the speed of light. Needless to say, it would take great technical advances to make it happen. I expect further investigations will bring us more exciting information about Proxima b and the efforts to send probes there.

There are some nice views through binoculars this month. Mars and Saturn are prominent in the southwest. To the east of Mars lie two nebulas, M8 and M20. The globular cluster M22 is just to the east of them.

The Summer Triangle is high above and easy to explore after 9pm. Let’s review finding it. Face south and look up. Almost overhead is a bright star called Vega. It’s in the constellation Lyra. Let your eyes slide about 25 degrees (a clenched fist at arm’s length is 10 degrees; your little finger is 1 degree) to the east. You are now in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan, and the star that is almost as bright as Vega is called Deneb. Move about 30 degrees southeast from Vega to find the final star in the triangle. You have arrived at Aquila, the Eagle, and the star that is as bright as Vega is called Altair.

For other sights, move your eyes west from Vega about 20 degrees. Now you are in the middle of Hercules. It is shaped like a box with stars branching off from its 4 corners. The globular cluster, Messier 13, is about a third of the way down the west side of the box. Messier 92, also a globular, can be found about 8 degrees above the middle of the top (north) side of Hercules.

Both of these DSOs (Deep Sky Objects) are easy binocular objects. Don’t forget to have a look at the constellation Corona Borealis. There aren’t any fancy deep space objects to be found there but it’s a lovely bright constellation. It’s just to the west of Hercules.

A challenge: During September, Neptune is prominent. It reaches opposition in early September. Pull out your star charts and hunt to the east of Aquarius. A small telescope provides a nice view. Let me know how you do.

Sept. 6: The Moon is at apogee.

Sept. 16: The Moon is full. This Moon is sometimes the Full Harvest Moon or the Full Corn Moon. The Harvest Moon is usually the closest Moon the Autumnal equinox. Every 3rd year or so, the harvest Moon comes in October. The light of the harvest Moon lets farmers work late into the night – as if they don’t work hard enough the rest of the year!

Sept. 18: The Moon is at perigee. This is a good time to explore the surface of the Moon. It is at its closest.

Sept. 22: Autumnal Equinox

Sept. 28: Best showing of Mercury just before dawn in the East. A sliver of a Moon will be above it.

Sept. 29: The Moon passes just a degree south of Mercury at dawn.

Sept. 30: New Moon.

Duncan Meikle from Maberly wrote me in early August about a bright object he saw flash across the southeast sky. It lasted about 10 to 15 seconds and made a turn to the northeast near the end as it faded. It was a Perseid meteor and I talked to Duncan about the turn it made. Likely it was a result of his viewing angle.

Have a good month and if you have any questions or special topics that you would like to see in this column, please email me. Let me know how your observing has gone this month, especially anything unusual. I enjoy the feedback.  

You may contact Fred Garrett through this paper or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Beginner’s Observer’s Guide by Leo Enright is available at the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy or by contacting the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada www.rasc.ca/publications, subscriptions for our very own excellent Canadian astronomy magazine, Sky News, are also available from RASC..

Yahoo! I had a wonderful time getting a video of Mercury transiting the Sun last month. I have to say it was quite a challenge setting everything up to record the event. I can’t say that I’ll qualify for an Oscar with my not very exciting video of a tiny black dot moving slowly across the Sun’s face, but think about it. That tiny dot represents a whole planet! Nearby there was a sunspot that was actually bigger than little Mercury. Speaking of planets, this month is a real treat for observing four very well positioned planets.

To make your trip through the night sky easier and less frustrating, get a hold of a star chart on the internet or from the Canadian magazine Skynews or other easily found astronomy magazines. Using sky charts to find objects that I describe in the sky makes the search so much better.

Saturn reaches opposition on the 2nd and 3rd. Remember that it will be very viewable in your telescope now and for the next month. Saturn is just below Ophiuchus and above the star Antares, which is at the top of the constellation Scorpius. It starts being noticeable about an hour after sunset in the south-southeast. The rings are tilted at quite an angle and present a near maximum view – spectacular!

Mars will be at its near maximum size well through June – it’s larger than it has been in nine years. It will fade as the month ends. Mars is to the upper right of Saturn and quite noticeably red at mid-month. Try to see Mars early in the month as it will become lost in evening twilight as the month progresses and we approach the longest day of the year.

Jupiter is a wonderful view, especially with its four easily visible moons dancing around it. Jupiter stays very bright through the month. Jupiter can be found below Leo and to the right of Regulus. The NASA JUNO mission to Jupiter is concentrating on the internal structure of the planet. They are counting on amateur astrophotographers to provide a visual set of information to match the data they collect. I’ll do the best I can to help them out and let you know if I qualify for any big science medals! Images will be important not only before Juno's arrival but also during the planned 20 months of data collection. Jupiter is a favourite object to photograph for many amateurs and will help the scientists to interpret the information they collect.

My favourite, Mercury, can be seen close to the Moon at dawn in the eastern horizon early in this month. Look east very close to sunrise. Watch for the Moon to be close by her on the 2nd and 3rd.

Other events:

June 17-18: The Moon, Saturn and Mars make a nice lopsided triangle.

June 18-19: Have a look at the Moon and Saturn. They are quite close. The bright star Antares is below and to the right.

June 20: There is a Full Moon at 7:02 pm. Also, summer solstice happens at 6:34 as well. There’s no need to go out and do a pagan dance in the moonlight. Summer has arrived. Dance in the sunlight! This Full Moon is called the Full Strawberry Moon. Since the bears and all other manner of wildlife eat my strawberries and cherries and so on, I’ve given up getting too excited. Good luck to you. The 20th is also the longest day of the year. It’s all downhill from here. Time to chop firewood and get ready for the shortest day of the year (I’m a realist, not a pessimist!).

Get out there and enjoy some of the best deep sky objects (DSOs) that summer has to offer.

Have a good month and if you have any questions or special topics that you would like to see in this column, please email me or make contact though this newspaper.

You may contact Fred Garrett through this paper or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Beginner’s Observer’s Guide by Leo Enright is available at the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy or by contacting the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada www.rasc.ca/publications, subscriptions for our very own excellent Canadian astronomy magazine, Sky News, are also available from RASC..

May is Mars month!

Every 780 Earth days (2.14 years) Mars has its closest approach to Earth when it is in opposition, which occurs when it is in a line between the Earth and the Sun. Mars has the second greatest eccentricity after Mercury. Eccentricity is a measure of how non-circular an orbit is. Mars has an elliptical orbit and thus the distance at opposition can change depending on where it is in its orbit.

Due to orbital mechanics, Mars’ point of closest approach actually occurs eight days after opposition. Opposition is at 7:17 a.m. EDT on May 22 and eight days later, on May 30 at 5:34 p.m. EDT, Mars will be 75,280,000 km from Earth. It will be roughly in the middle of the constellations Ophiuchus, Libra and Scorpius. It will also be to the upper right of the bright star Antares, which, funnily enough, translates to mean “rival of Mars”!

A telescope larger than 4 to 6 inches is good for observing Mars, which will be about 28 degrees above the southern horizon, which is on the low side. This means a thicker atmosphere to view through and that will have some effect on resolution and clarity.

The best time to observe Mars is right now and on into late summer. Its diameter won’t vary that much during this period.

May is also Mercury month! Mercury will make a transit across the face of the Sun on May 9. This last happened in November, 2006 and will only occur 14 times in the 21st century. Mercury usually passes slightly above or below the Sun due to its axial tilt of 7 degrees to the Earth’s orbital plane. The transit begins at about 7:12 a.m. EDT at the middle of the western limb (left side) of the Sun. For the next seven and a half hours Mercury will cross down to the south-east limb of the Sun. It will be half way across about 10:57 a.m. EDT and will leave the face of the Sun about 2:40 p.m. EDT. Mercury’s disk will be a quite small, so watch that you don’t confuse it with a sunspot. Look for a perfectly circular and black dot. A sunspot looks like a messy, multi-shaded blob. This event won’t happen again until November, 2019.

CAUTION! Do not look at the Sun directly with your eyes or through any binoculars or telescope without a proper solar filter, and that filter should be tightly fixed on the front of the instrument you use. You can also project an image of the Sun through your optical device onto a white surface about 12 to 20 inches from the eyepiece.

Gravitational waves have been discovered! LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) has finally been successful in detecting gravitational waves from the collision of two small black holes. Einstein predicted their existence a hundred years ago. The merging of the two black holes took place about 1.3 billion light years away. There are two LIGO observatories and that allows astronomers to triangulate roughly where in the sky it occurred. LIGO is composed of two 4km laser paths at right angles to each other. When there are no gravitational waves, they cancel each other out. When gravitational waves occur, the compression and expansion of one path causes a detectable difference in the laser beams. I expect that the technology will improve quickly now that it has been shown to work.

May 5: The Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks. Watch for them several days before and after the peak. It is best in early morning before dawn.

May 6: The Moon is at perigee (222,300 miles from Earth), closest distance.

May 9: Mercury is at inferior conjunction and crosses the face of the Sun (see above). Use a telescope with a proper solar filter to observe.

May 18: The Moon is at apogee (252,230 miles from Earth), farthest distance.

May 21: Full Moon. This Moon is called the Full Flower Moon or Full Corn Planting Moon. I’ve planted tulips at random all over my place and they’re coming up gang busters. They are my excuse for not mowing the lawn. Who wants to mow down beautiful flowers! Sadly, it often happens that the grass grows so high that I can’t find the lawn mower!

May 22: Mars is at opposition. The Moon is to the upper left of Mars.

May 30: Mars is closest to the Earth (46,800,000 miles). It is 18.6 arc seconds across and the closest and largest it has been since 2005.

Have a good month and if you have any questions or special topics that you would like to see in this column, please email me or make contact though this newspaper. Let me know how your observing has gone this month, especially anything unusual.  

You may contact Fred Garrett through this paper or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Beginner’s Observer’s Guide by Leo Enright is available at the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy or by contacting the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada www.rasc.ca/publications, subscriptions for our very own excellent Canadian astronomy magazine, Sky News, are also available from RASC..

Is there a Planet X out there? Gravitational irregularities are shaping the orbits of some very distant Kuiper belt objects far out in the outer Solar System.

Researchers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown at Caltech hypothesize that a very large planet some 5000 times the mass of Pluto, gravitationally dominates the area in its neighbourhood and has nudged six extremely distant objects into elliptical orbits that all point in the same direction in space even though their orbital speeds are all different. That rarely occurs. They are also all tilted downwards at a 30 degree angle and that is an extraordinarily rare and improbable occurrence in celestial mechanics!

Planet X, if it exists, is posited to be a gaseous planet and similar to Neptune and Uranus. The hunt is on to actually see and observe this possible planet. It is extremely difficult to discover an object that is so distant that the best guess for its orbital period is between 10,000 and 20,000 years. It is moving so slowly in its orbit that it is very hard to measure changes in its position over short time periods. Astronomers won’t acknowledge the existence of an astronomical object unless they can find it and see it. For now, Planet X will have to remain something possible but not provable in the short term.

You are in for a special treat during the first half of February about an hour before dawn. Grab your binoculars (you should always have them with you when you go out at night; you can be sure that astro fanatics like me always do! Well, maybe not all the time…) and marvel at the display of Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus and Mercury on display above the horizon and stretching from west to east. Mercury is hardest to find but Jupiter and Venus will be very obvious.

A large, imposing and beautiful sight to see from early evening on is the hourglass shape of the constellation Orion! A special jewel that is easy to find in the sword that hangs from Orion’s belt, is the Orion Nebula, M42. It’s hard not to find it in a pair of binoculars! Follow the line of Orion’s belt up and to the right to discover the Hyades open star cluster. Imbedded in it and part of the constellation Taurus, is the star Aldebaran, the baleful red eye of Taurus the Bull. If you continue on to the upper right you will discover the Seven Sisters, an open cluster also called the Pleiades. Taken from Greek mythology, the constellation is named for the seven divine daughters of Pleione. It must be noted that an observer with normal eyesight can easily see 7 stars in this open cluster. Binoculars will show a smorgasbord of many more bright young stars.

I have mostly Moon notices this month – and there’s nothing wrong with that!

February 6: Mercury, Venus and a waning crescent Moon make a beautiful triangle just before dawn. If you’re up at 3 am, the Moon passes 4 or 5 degrees north of Venus.

February 8: New Moon

February 10: The Moon is at perigee or its closest approach to Earth (36,229 Km) at 9:40 pm EST.

February 16: The Moon passes just north of Aldebaran around 3 am EST.

February 22: A full Moon occurs at 1:20 pm EST. This Full Moon is called the Full Snow Moon. February is usually the snowiest (and coldest) month of winter (except during Ottawa’s Winterlude). We’ll see this year! It is also called the Full Hunger Moon. Hunting for game to eat is much more difficult and grub is running pretty low.

February 23: The Moon passes just south of Jupiter around 11 pm EST.

February 26: The Moon is at apogee or its farthest point from the Earth (493,030 Km) at 10:28 pm EST.

There is a Comet in the sky during February. Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10) passes a few degrees above the North Star Polaris on February 1. As the month progresses, it moves southward (upward) as the month progresses and passes between Camelopardalis, the Giraffe, and Cassiopeia. Binoculars should bring out this 6th magnitude comet under dark sky conditions. It’s a new visitor from the Oort cloud and it’s a help that it is passing through an area with no bright stars. Look for the fuzzy glow that marks the coma around its nucleus. Good hunting! Let me know how you do finding this visitor.

You may contact Fred Garrett through this paper or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Beginner’s Observer’s Guide by Leo Enright is available at the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy or by contacting the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada www.rasc.ca/publications, subscriptions for our very own excellent Canadian astronomy magazine, Sky News, are also available from RASC..

To try and figure out what celestial event might have been the Star of Bethlehem 2000 years ago, we must have a reasonably accurate idea of when Jesus Christ was born. Theological historians place the birth of Jesus in September or October in 3 or 2 BC. They researched several historical facts derived from biblical accounts in Matthew and Luke to arrive at that date. These facts included the date of the census taken at that time; who was ruling Judea and Syria; and the death of Herod in 1 BC.

First, it must be noted that in ancient times the word ‘star’ could be interpreted several ways. It could be any bright object that traveled across the sky. We can discount a meteor shower or Supernova as the Star of Bethlehem. Accounts require that the bright object appear in the eastern sky, cross the starry background and move before the Magi to Judea. Meteors travel quickly across the sky and a shower lasts only a short time. No Supernova was reported during the period we are investigating. We can also discount comets, because they were considered to be signs of evil and bad omens.

That leaves us with planets or groupings of planets to match the biblical description and there are a series of conjunctions that roughly fit our time period. A conjunction is when two or more planets and, or stars come close to each other.

Matthew relates that the star appeared in the rays of the rising Sun. On August 1st , 3 BC, Jupiter rose up in the light of dawn. At 5 AM on August 13th, Jupiter and Venus were very close together. A few days later on the 18th, Venus and Mercury appeared at dawn in a conjunction. On September 14th Jupiter was in conjunction with the very bright star Regulus. Jupiter and Venus, the two brightest planets in the sky, were so close, they appeared to fuse together. A grand conjunction of planets occurred on August 27th when Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and Venus were a tight bundle at sunrise. By mid-October the Magi saw Jupiter above Bethlehem. Jupiter had reached its farthest point west and stood still against the stars high in the sky above Bethlehem.

I have given you an astronomer’s explanation of the symbol of the Star of Bethlehem shining with all the stars in the heavens above. I leave it to you to mix your faith with the wonderful miracles of the universe. To me this star symbolizes all the wishes for hope and joy and friendship during this holiday season.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night – astronomy wise that is!

You may contact Fred Garrett through this paper or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Beginner’s Observer’s Guide by Leo Enright is available at the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy or by contacting the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada www.rasc.ca/publications, subscriptions for our very own excellent Canadian astronomy magazine, Sky News, are also available from RASC..

The huge and brilliant constellation Orion rises up from the eastern horizon by mid-evening in November. This one is a favourite of mine with its spectacular nebula Orion at the bottom of the sword that hangs from the three stars of Orion’s belt. It is easy to make out with binoculars and is a glorious eyeful through a modest telescope.

Another constellation that never fails to amaze me is the Great Square of Pegasus. Pegasus can be found during November high in the south just below the zenith. You should have no trouble finding it if you go out between 8 and 9 pm. It covers over 1100 square degrees and is one of the largest constellations in the sky!

The constellation Andromeda looks like a V that rises at a diagonal up and to the left of Pegasus. Half way up Andromeda and about 5 degrees to the right, you will find the galaxy Andromeda. What a beautiful sight in a telescope! If you use averted vision (see footnote) on a clear dark night, you can actually see it by eye! If you look to the left at equal distance, you will see the spiral galaxy M33. It is actually in the constellation Triangulum. Both galaxies can be made out with the naked eye on a nice clear night. They are quite easy to find with binoculars.

This month on November 17th - 18th, we have the Leonid meteor shower. It peaks just before dawn on this night. It is usually a weak shower with about 15 meteors per hour on average (ZHR 15-20). There is no Moon, which will make it easier to make out more and fainter meteors. I plan on going out on the evenings leading up to that night and afterwards, to see if there are any pre and post peak meteors. Remember that meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. The shower is named for the constellation that marks their point of origin. The S Taurid meteor shower last month was surprisingly active with quite a few fireballs. You just never know! Maybe we’ll get a repeat of that activity for the N Taurid meteor shower on November 12th. Both of the Taurid meteor showers are spread out over several nights.

November 11: New Moon occurs. Watch for a slim crescent in the west leading up to this night.

November 11 - 12: N Taurid meteor shower.

November 17 – 18: Leonid meteor shower.

November 25: Full Moon. This Moon is called the Full Hunter’s Moon or the Full Beaver Moon. If you could hear the rifle shots echoing in my area, you wouldn’t doubt the hunter part of this Moon. As for beavers, this was the time of year to trap beaver while they were active and preparing for winter.

November 28: Venus passes 4 degrees north of the bright star Spica in the very early morning in the east.

Remember! A modest pair of binoculars will give you the freedom to tour the Universe.

(Averted vision is the technique of looking just off to the side of where the deep space object is located and this brings the more sensitive black and white receptors in the back of the eye into the field of view. Dimmer objects can be seen).

You may contact Fred Garrett through this paper or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Beginner’s Observer’s Guide by Leo Enright is available at the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy or by contacting the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada www.rasc.ca/publications, subscriptions for our very own excellent Canadian astronomy magazine, Sky News, are also available from RASC..