| Jan 28, 2015


Grab your binoculars and have a look at a great little comet called Lovejoy that is sailing across our skies right now! You can find it to the right or west of Perseus at the start of February. It moves northwestward as the month passes. Look to the right of Cassiopeia and then between the great square of Pegasus and Cepheus as the month progresses. While you’re in the area have a look at M33 to the right of Triangulum and M34 just to the west side of Perseus. The constellation Triangulum has the shape of a small triangle of 3 stars. It is just west of Perseus and a bit south of Andromeda. Of course, the Double Cluster just north of the arrow head top of Perseus is always a magnificent sight! Look just north of Triangulum, near Andromeda and you’ll find NGC 752, a lovely little open star cluster.

The full Moon this month occurs on the 3rd. It’s called the Full Snow Moon. I don’t think I have to explain that name.

Starting on the 8th and lasting for the next 2 weeks, watch for the Zodiacal light in the west. This light appears as a triangle shaped glow rising up from the horizon. It is the light reflected from dust and debris in the plane or ecliptic of our solar system. Dark skies are a definite advantage.

Jupiter is in opposition on February 6. That means that it is at its closest approach to Earth and rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. It is pretty well the brightest object in the sky. It will sit between Leo and Cancer all winter and it will rise to be high in the south by the middle of the night. I find that it’s always fun to watch Jupiter’s moons dancing around the planet from night to night. Did you know that because of the speed at which Jupiter rotates, it is wider at its equator than from pole to pole? You can make out the belts that gird its diameter through a modest size telescope. Be patient and wait for good moments of seeing. Poor seeing occurs when the movements of air currents distort the atmosphere and blur the object you are viewing.

An hour after sunset on February 7, Venus is about 10 degrees above the west southwest horizon. Mars is about 8 degrees above it. Look carefully because Mars is much dimmer than Venus. As the month progresses, the 2 planets move closer together until on the 17th they are less than 2 degrees from each other. The Moon is very close to the pair on the 20th. The next night, Mars and Venus are at their closest – 0.4 degrees, almost on top of each other! By the end of the month they are still within 4 degrees of each other. Make sure you go out an hour after sunset because if you go out a few hours later, the planets will have set.

Saturn rises around 2:30 am at the start of February but by the end of the month, it will be rising near midnight. By sunrise it’s pretty high and it presents a wonderful view of its rings.

The Mars rover, Opportunity, originally designed to last three months, has continued to do exceptionally valuable research for the 11 years it has been in operation. It has traveled 41.7 kilometers doing its scientific investigations on the surface of Mars. Opportunity moves very slowly and its every movement is planned very carefully so the 41.7 kilometers is a huge distance for it to have traveled. If they can build a rover to last 11 years in the horrendous conditions on the surface of Mars, wouldn’t it be wonderful if they could build a new car to last that long on the surface of Earth without ending up in a garage every six months!

The New Horizons spacecraft will be entering its approach phase to Pluto over the next 6 months. Pictures taken during this approach phase will refine its path so that it passes between Pluto and its 5 moons. The piano sized spacecraft was launched in 2006 and has travelled more than 5 billion kilometers. It will provide our first close-up views of Pluto and its moons.


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..

Support local
independant journalism by becoming a patron of the Frontenac News.