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Look Up!

Planetary Treats
Why is Shrinking Venus So Bright?
Saturn’s Slim Rings Show Off Titan’s Transit
Mercury's Rayed Craters
Triple Planetary Treat for Early Birds
Celestial Delights
Orion Gives Birth ~ His Babies Are Artists!
Plus ...
Sky Lights
Printable Date Tables
Moon Dances 12/27/08-1/25/09
Moon Dances 1/25-2/24/09
The Night Sky ~ Home Page
Aquarius Navigation Page

Planetary Treats

Glorious Venus ~ Veiled and Unveiled
Why Is Venus So Bright?

Image: Calvin J.Hamilton

Veiled and Unveiled

This picture shows two different perspectives of Venus. On the left is a mosaic of images acquired by the Mariner 10 spacecraft on February 5, 1974. The image shows the thick cloud coverage that prevents optical observation of the planet's surface. The surface of Venus remained hidden until December 4, 1978 when the Pioneer Venus 1 spacecraft arrived and went into orbit about the planet. The spacecraft used radar to map the planet's surface, revealing a new Venus. Later in August 1990 the Magellan spacecraft arrived at Venus and began its extensive planetary mapping mission. This mission produced radar images up to 300 meters per pixel in resolution. The right image shows a rendering of Venus from the Pioneer Venus and Magellan radar images.

Currently the European Space Agency has an orbiter at Venus with state-of-the-art instruments onboard. It has been gathering invaluable information on the secrets of the Venusian atmosphere.

Venus Express ~ ESA’s Orbiter
Successful Launch ~ November 9, 2005
Orbital Arrival ~ April 11, 2006
Mission Extension ~ To Early May 2009
Objectives ~ Images+Videos ~ Status Reports

Why Is Venus So Bright?

Cloud Cover

It’s ironic that one reason for the blazing brilliance of Venus is the very cloud cover that prevents us from visually seeing the surface of the planet! The layers of bright clouds that completely enshroud Venus reflect light from the Sun almost like a mirror.

The planet's global cloud cover, reflecting 60% of the sunlight striking it, makes Venus stunningly bright, so much so that many often mistake it for a UFO! While these clouds create a glorious Venus from our point of view, they form out of sulfuric-acid droplets, not water as on Earth.

Close Proximity

Also, because Venus is the closest planet to Earth, it is the brightest of all planets. It is brighter than all the stars. Venus in the night sky is second in brightness only to our Moon.

Orbital Motion

Another fascinating aspect of Venus, its orbital motion, creates a difference in apparent disk size and phase illumination. This results in a unique and surprising greater or lesser brilliance. Venus, less illuminated by the Sun, appears more brilliant!

When Venus is far from Earth, it lies on the far side of the Sun (Earth-Sun-Venus) and we telescopically see Venus fully illuminated by the Sun. A "Full Venus" is like a Full Moon.

Venus is presently shrinking from a full phase toward a thin crescent phase, as it nears Earth. A thin crescent Venus closer to Earth looks bigger and, therefore, brighter than a small full Venus farther away from Earth. Image During Aquarius the illuminated phase of Venus shrinks from 49% to 28% and its disk size increases from 26" (arc seconds) to 39".

Venus is closest to Earth, as it reaches inferior conjunction and positions itself between the Earth and Sun (Earth–Venus–Sun). As Venus nears this solar conjunction, it disappears from our view in the glowing embrace of our Sun. Inferior conjunction and closest approach occurs March 27, 2009 at 12:00pm PDT; 19:00 UT.

Animated Phases of Venus
Watch Venus increase in size as it moves
from its full phase to its crescent phase.
Another Phase Animation

Compute the apparent disk size of Venus
and other solar system objects.
See the telescopic phase of Venus for any
given date and time from 1700–2030.

BTW: Venus officially reaches greatest brilliancy February 19 at magnitude –4.8. However, even when its illumination drops in magnitude in the preceding or following month or two the difference is imperceptible to our eyes.

Venus has been giving us an ongoing, dazzling night sky performance for several months. Its earlier sunset dances with Jupiter and its continuing encores with the Crescent Moon have been breathtaking. The show is not over yet! We can look forward to additional light sky appearances by Venus, as well as water glow and land shadows created by the planet during dark nights.

Venus commands our attention during Aquarius, blazing at its brightest from sunset until it sinks below the horizon at 9:15pm. Watch Venus grow bigger and brighter as the weeks unfold. The planet's altitude remains steady, as it meanders northward.

Crescent Moon, Venus

January 27 begin looking for the youngest Moon low on the southwestern horizon; watch it rise up to meet Venus and pass the planet during the following nights. January 29-30 the slim Crescent is in closest proximity to glorious Venus. The view promises to be exquisite. 1/29 Map/Text Click Moon Dances for an additional map and meditative reflections; see Luna smile for the goddess of love!

Venus, Pisces, Pegasus, Uranus

During Aquarius brilliant Venus transits the faint constellation Pisces, which is located south of the Great Square of Pegasus the Flying Horse. Below (south of) the saddle of Pegasus Venus the goddess of love visits with Uranus the rebel.

Venus brings the Love Principle to emerging new Life and harmonizes humanity with the gifts of understanding, wise love, unity, creativity and beauty. The emanations of this planet help one begin to understand the causes and conditions of harmony and conflict. They thereby lovingly and wisely promote diplomacy and establish right human relations between all people and between nations. The qualities of Venus, when incorporated into the life give birth to the sons and daughters of God, the self-consecrated human beings who manifest their Divinity on Earth.

Pisces is the constellation of the World Savior. The energies emanating from this constellation fuse the soul and form producing the Incarnated Christ, the fully liberated Divine Human Being, the Light of the World. These energies reveal the light of life itself, a light that ends forever the darkness of matter.

The ancient Babylonians called the Square of Pegasus "The Doorway to Paradise." Today astronomers travel through this doorway or "window" to the edge of our Milky Way Galaxy and go beyond to other galaxies!

Venus, Pisces and Pegasus the Flying Horse have the innate capacity for spiritualization and for inverting evil into good. This is an auspicious planetary transit for humanity's spiritual evolution.

January 22 Venus conjoins telescopic Uranus south of the star, Markab the saddle of Pegasus at 5:02pm PST; 01:02 UT 1/23. 6pm 1/22 Map. These two planets are within a 3º (degree) conjunction south of this star from January 19-26. Their combined emanations strongly influence humanity during this time.

Uranus evokes the freedom urge and shakes us loose from constrictions, ultimately leading us to inclusiveness. The modern day Aquarian is believed to be ruled by Uranus, the agent of awakening and electric change.

Markab is the vehicle through which soul accomplishes its greater mission-the physical cellular aspect of the Merkabah, one's body of light. Markab not only brings attention to our physical body and its health--the body being the temple / vessel of the soul--but to the physical aspects of our lives and of our relations ... from the professional structures that make our nourishment possible ... to the physical logistics of our personal and daily lives. Markab asks us to honor the palpable, the physical needs we have. Nick Fiorenza

Our physical structures are apt to change abruptly in order to establish right relationship. Open to the new emerging forms that better sustain the Life.

February 19 when gorgeous Venus achieves greatest brilliancy, the planet lies south of the star Algenib, the wing of Pegasus the Flying Horse. 6:30pm 2/19 Map

… fortuitous Algenib of the Great Square of Pegasus. Algenib, the wing of Pegasus, inspires us to lift ourselves above the emotional dramatics of the mortal world which feed our fear and keep us entrapped. Nick Fiorenza

Note: Venus retrograde (3/6 - 4/16) keeps Venus in the vicinity of Algenib.

Open to the ongoing and combined emanations of Venus, Pisces and Pegasus the Flying Horse. Transform evil into good. Foster right human relations. Ride the wings of your soul toward the Light and through the gates of Paradise. The Light returns through you, a self-consecrated human being who manifests Divinity on Earth.

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Saturn’s Slim Rings Show Off Titan’s Transit
January 7, 2009 – 19:50 UT

Image: Christopher Go (Cebu, Philippines)

Original Image

Saturn's rings are almost perfectly edge-on to Earth and this is giving astronomers a chance to see unaccustomed things. On Jan. 7th, Christopher Go of the Philippines photographed one of them--a transit of Titan [seen in the image above].

Titan passes in front of Saturn fairly often, but the transits are usually hidden from view by Saturn's broad rings. Only when the rings are edge-on does the giant moon's silhouette reveal itself to backyard telescopes.

" This type of transit is so rare, the last time it happened was in 1995," says Go. "After March 12th, the next one will be in the year 2025. The last four transits of this season will be on 1/23, 2/8, 2/24 and 3/12. The March 12th transit is the rarest as it will feature both Titan and it's shadow."

"All of the Titan transits this season are visible only from the Austral-Asia region of Earth," notes Go. Astrophotographers in the area, ready your cameras! SpaceWeather.com / Archive 1/18/09

Seeking Saturn’s Moons
Sky & Telescope’s JavaScript utility helps
locate Saturn’s five brightest satellites anytime
between January 1900-December 2100.

Saturn's Slimming Rings

It takes Saturn 29.457 Earth years to orbit the Sun, as it does its rings appear to change position as seen from Earth through a telescope. Image Saturn's rings have been closing from their maximum ring tilt of 27º in April 2003 to their almost edge-on tilt of only 1º in January 2009. Here's an image showing Saturn's rings 10 months apart, on 3/2/08 and 1/4/09.

Why are Saturn’s rings disappearing?
Only once in 14-15 years does this occur!

A brief minimum tilt of 0.8° occurred at Christmas 2008. Image

... Saturn's rings are 1.0° to 1.1° from edge-on [the week of Jan. 16-24, 2009]. The rings will gradually open to 4° by late May, then will close to exactly edge-on early next September — when, unfortunately, Saturn will be out of sight in conjunction with the Sun. Saturn will again be poorly placed for our next ring-plane crossing 15 years hence. So now is the thinnest you can see Saturn's rings until 2038! Sky & Telescope / Sky at a Glance 1/16-24

Star Gazer's 5-minute video from the week of 1/12-18/09 shows the movement of Saturn's rings over time. I highly recommend watching this fun video for its explanation of Saturn's shrinking rings and wonderful "ring dance" animation.

View Saturn’s Ring Tilt
Using the Solar System Simulator choose:
Saturn seen from Earth
any month/day/year at anytime UTC
body 30%—no options chosen—run simulator.
Compare annual ring tilt by viewing years 2003-2009.

Saturn can be seen in the east at 9:00pm, overhead at 2:00am and in the west around sunrise. The planet's pale yellow orb lies near Denebola, Leo the Lion's tail star. Star Map Saturn's retrograde motion (12/31/08 - 5/15/09) keeps it in the vicinity of the Lion's hindquarters. Saturn shines at magnitude 0.7 about twice as bright as Regulus, the Lion's heart star, which shines at magnitude 1.35. The planet rises in the beginning of Aquarius at 9:00pm and by its end at 7:30pm.

February 10-11, Tuesday-Wednesday, the nearly full, waning Gibbous Moon is in close proximity to Saturn, first west of the planet, next to it, then east of it. 9pm Map Click Moon Dances for an additional map and meditative reflections.

The Moon conjoins Saturn 2/11 at 7:43am PST; 15:43 UT.

After 1:00am any night look for the triangle formed by Saturn, Spica (Virgo's brightest star) and Arcturus (Bootes' brightest star). The two stars lie to the southeast and northeast of the planet respectively. 6am 2/11 Sky Chart

Saturn is moving closer to Earth, however its brightness is negatively affected because its normally open, reflective rings are nearly closed and wafer-thin, as seen in the image above. The "Lord of the Almost No Rings" is at opposition March 8. This close Earth approach is its dimmest in 13 years.

BTW: At a distance of almost 800 million miles (8.5 AU 2/15 and 8.4 AU 3/15) the light of Saturn reaches us in over an hour.

Saturn Opposes Uranus

Saturn and Uranus remain within a 2-3 degree opposition of each other. Their first exact pass took place on the USA's election day, November 4, 2008. The second takes place in the sign of Aquarius February 5. Three more exact passes occur ... September 15, 2009 ... April 26 and July 26, 2010.

Given that the orbs of influence with slow-moving planets mean we feel them before and after the aspects are exact, we have a two year plus window of time in which these two planets oppose each other. This happens every 45.4 years, and the last time was 1965-67 and before that, 1918-1920. Read more by Lara Owen ...

Disciplined Saturn utilizes the experiences of limitation, pain and restriction to lead humanity out of its outdated patterns to an expansion in consciousness, greater fulfillment, and eventual freedom. Exciting Uranus evokes the freedom urge and shakes us loose from constrictions, allowing the trappings of an old age to fall away for a greater inclusiveness and freedom. During the opposition of these two planets, energies build up and create crises that ultimately free the human spirit from oppressive life structures and dull routines.

Robert Hand warns that this planetary relationship is one of the most challenging in a lifetime! One must find a balance between Saturn's order, discipline, predictability and Uranus' change and original experience.

Our allies are the willingness to change, innovation, practicality, resourcefulness and compassion.

We are at a threshold of new social, religious and cultural order. ... The changes are at once swift as well as frustratingly slow. The crises we face awaken us to broaden our perspective of our collective, the larger whole of which each one of us is a part.

Breakthrough to what's new! Jacqueline Lasahn ... AstroFlash 10/30/08

The Five Saturn Uranus Oppositions
The Challenge, The Turning, & the Mobilization of Change
Astronomical and Spiritual Insights by Nick Fiorenza

These are times of change. Remain calm and tune to the guiding forces of your higher power. Mantram: May the greatest good come forth!

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APOD: A Spectacular Rayed Crater on Mercury - November 3, 2008

Image: MESSENGER / NASA / JHU APL / CIW

Larger Image

This particularly spectacular rayed crater, spanning approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles), was imaged by the robotic MESSENGER spacecraft during its 10/6/08 flyby from a distance of 20,600 kilometers (12,800 miles).

The images from MESSENGER confirm that Mercury has more rayed craters than Earth's Moon. No one is sure why the planet has so many. It is a mystery because space weathering effects such as dust accumulation and solar wind attenuation should be greater on Mercury than on the Moon. Hypothesized solutions currently include the optical properties of Mercurian dust, and that Mercury's high mass and proximity to the Sun cause more violent impacts, thus typically raising more light material. MESSENGER will fly past Mercury again 9/29/09 before entering orbit in 2011. APOD Explanation / Original Caption / Current APOD

NASA Sends a MESSENGER to Mercury!
This is NASA’s first trip to the planet in 30 years.
Successful Launch ~ August 2/3, 2004
Orbital Arrival ~ March 2011
News Center

Mercury is changing horizons and conjoins the Sun, as Aquarius begins, reaching inferior conjunction January 20. During the first week of February the planet reappears in the morning sky for early birds with a clear, flat southeastern view, about half an hour before sunrise. By February 4 Mercury, still hugging the horizon, stands pretty much at its maximum altitude. Mercury rises around 6:30am in the beginning of Aquarius and by its end at 5:30am.

Mercury gets brighter in the following weeks, but not higher. February 13 the planet is at it's greatest distance west of the Sun (26º), known as its greatest elongation. At this time it is in a challenging to see, predawn planetary line-up with Mars and Jupiter. Binoculars are helpful in spotting the trio. 6:30am 2/13 Map By February 18 Jupiter and Mars change positions in the predawn planetary line-up. 2/18 Map More about this "triple planetary treat" below.

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Triple Planetary Treat for Early Birds ~ Morning Mercury, Mars, Jupiter
Watch Their Changing Cosmic Choreography– Look East-Southeast
Monday-Sunday, February 16-22 – 30 Minutes Before Sunrise
See Slim Luna Slide in on Saturday and Sunday!
View Below: Monday, February 16 – 6:30am
The Dawning of the Age of Aquarius?

Image: Starry Night graphic made for Star Gazer / Adapted with Adobe Photoshop

* Printable 2/18 Image *

Triple Planetary Treat for Early Birds!

This is a challenging observation. You need right timing, a clear flat horizon and binoculars. Jupiter is the brightest of the three planets and the easiest to see in the twilit sky, then Mercury. To spot Mars you'll definitely need binoculars.

... early birds can see a planetary triple play just before sunrise. Go out every morning the 16th through the 22nd and look east and you can watch the largest planet, 88,000 mile wide Jupiter do a ballet with 4,000 mile wide Mars and 3,000 mile wide Mercury.

On February 17th Jupiter and Mars will be so close, less then one full Moon could fit between them. And then as each day goes by Jupiter and Mercury will move toward each other and Mars will move away [on] Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. On Saturday this exquisite trio is joined by a crescent Moon. But the best day is Sunday the 22nd when all three planets and the Moon will be lined up in a row. Wow! Get out your binoculars and keep looking up! Star Gazer 2009 Script 2/9-2/15

Star Gazer's 1-Minute Video
Watch the 2/16-22 Cosmic Choreography!

Rise and Set Times

Note: Monday, February 23, a sliver of an old Moon, its last vestige, hugs the horizon east of Mars just before sunrise.

BTW: Check out the Date Table for conjunctions and additional events during this time.

 

The Dawning of the Age of Aquarius?

The following quote was emailed to me without a source. It is referring to the signs of Aquarius and Libra not the constellations. The Difference

In the early morning of February 12 we start the new Aquarius alignment. This is when the Moon moves into Libra (7th house). This alignment culminates around 6:00 AM on February 14, which is Valentines Day ... During this time period Jupiter will align with Mars in Aquarius and the moon will be in the 7th house.

Remember the song Aquarius [from the 1967 musical Hair] ...

When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius
The age of Aquarius ... Aquarius!... Aquarius!

Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind's true liberation
Aquarius! ... Aquarius!

As our hearts go beating through the night,
We dance into the dawn of day.
To be the bearers of the water,
Our light will lead the way.
We are the spirit of the Age of Aquarius.

When the planets lined up in 1962 the moon was not in the 7th house. In this alignment the moon will be in the 7th house. The year 1962 brought in the first inkling of the new age and now it is ready to mature. Unknown Source

As you can see Jupiter and Mars are aligned in the morning sky during the sign of Aquarius and my astrologer confirms the Moon is in the 7th House on the dates mentioned in the quote.

Many feel and would agree we are in the transition of the ages and it seems pretty wonderful that this particular "dawning" occurs during Valentine's. Hmmm ... Let's just take some time to officially welcome the Age of Aquarius and the gifts it has to offer us! Open and receive the blessings of this new age!

Jupiter changes horizons during Aquarius. After being in exact conjunction with the Sun January 23, the planet reappears in the east-southeastern predawn sky in mid-February. Jupiter rises an hour before the Sun around 6:00am and lies low on the horizon. You need an unobstructed view to catch an early morning glimpse of our gaseous giant.

Mars lies near Jupiter, which is about 10x brighter than our Red Planet. February 13 Jupiter lies below Mars while Mercury at greatest elongation shines above the pair. 6:30am 2/13 Map By February 18 Jupiter rises above Mars. 2/18 Map 

Predawn Saturday-Monday, February 21-23, a sliver of an old Moon joins the "triple planetary treat". Review maps and video above. Click Moon Dances for an addtional map and meditative reflections.

Mars reappears in the mid-February morning sky at 6:00am about an hour before sunrise. You must have an unobstructed east-southeastern horizon, keen eyes and binoculars to spot its dim glow in the bright twilight. Find Jupiter, which shines about 10x brighter and you can begin to look for nearby Mars. Review maps/video above.

Mercury ... Review this planetary treat above.

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Celestial Delights

Orion Gives Birth ~ His Babies Are Artists!
Baby Stars Create a Masterpiece

Image: NASA / JPL – Caltech / STScI

This Spitzer/Hubble infrared and visible-light composite shows an artistic masterpiece of turbulent and chaotic energies that baby stars are creating 1,500 light years away in the Orion Nebula. Four monstrously massive stars, collectively known as the Trapezium located at the center of this cosmic cloud may be the main culprits of this gorgeous chaos. "These behemoths are approximately 100,000 times brighter than our sun." JPL

[This] image from NASA’s Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes looks more like an abstract painting than a cosmic snapshot. … It was "painted" by hundreds of baby stars on a canvas of gas and dust, with intense ultraviolet light and strong stellar winds as brushes. NASA's Full Caption / Description

The Splendor of Orion: A Star Factory Unveiled
SPACE.com’s informative account of the current science
relating to the Orion Nebula and its Grand Nebula replacement.

The Orion Nebula is the nearest star formation region to the Earth and consequently particularly well studied. Despite this, star formation is not all that well understood. astro.nineplanets.org

Hubble's Top 10 Space Photos

Orion the Hunter gives birth to stars! More than half of the 25 brightest stars appear overhead in the winter sky making it the brightest night sky of all the seasons. Well, here's the reason why these bright stars are in the winter sky.

It is no coincidence that the brightest stars congregate here [the winter sky], for this is where many stellar nurseries reside, including the marvelous Orion Nebula (M42). Massive stars begin their lives in such cocoons and burn most brightly. Scan this region with binoculars to see one marvel after another. Astronomy Magazine 2/03

The Orion Nebula (M42) is easily visible as a fuzzy star with the unaided eye. Here's a fun quote about its location and size that will expand your horizons:

Everyone loves Orion's bright stars but it is one of his dimmer stars that will blow you away. Face southeast in the early evening and below Orion's three belt stars you'll see three dimmer stars which make up his sword. But no matter how sharp your eyesight the middle star always seems to look fuzzy, out of focus. That's because it isn't a star at all but a humongous cosmic cloud of gas and dust where new stars are being born. We call it the Orion Nebula and there is enough material here to produce over ten thousand stars the size of our Sun. Indeed, this nebula is so huge we could line up 20,000 of our solar systems end to end from one edge of it to the other. How's that for a fuzzy little star? Star Gazer

Navigating with Orion

Find Orion's Valentine's Star!
It's red, beats like a giant heart
and stimulates our heart.

Happy Valentine's Day!
May the Love Light in Your Heart
Expand to Include All.
Look Up … Be Dazzled!

Venus, blazing at its brightest from sunset until it sinks below the horizon at 9:15pm, commands our attention during Aquarius. This gorgeous planet officially achieves greatest brilliancy 2/19, when it lies south of the star Algenib, the wing of Pegasus the Flying Horse. 6:30pm 2/19 Map Moving toward Earth, Venus reaches inferior conjunction and closest approach 3/27. Watch Venus grow bigger and brighter as the weeks unfold. Look around for Venus shadows and Venus glow upon the water. The altitude of Venus remains steady as it meanders northward. The planet currently transits the faint constellation Pisces found south of Pegasus. 1/22 Venus conjoins telescopic Uranus south of the star, Markab the saddle of Pegasus. 6pm 1/22 Map. A slim Crescent Moon graces Venus 1/29-30; begin looking 1/27 for the youngest Moon low on the southwestern horizon; watch it rise up to meet Venus and pass the planet during the following nights. The view promises to be exquisite. 1/29 Map/Text

Saturn rises in the beginning of Aquarius at 9:00pm and by its end at 7:30pm. The planet can be seen in the east at 9pm, overhead at 2am and in the west around sunrise. Saturn lies near Denebola, Leo the Lion's tail star and currently shines at magnitude 0.7 about twice as bright as Regulus, the Lion's heart star, which shines at magnitude 1.35. 2/10-11 the waning Gibbous Moon is near Saturn first above (west of) the planet, next to it, then below (east of) it. 9pm Map ~ 6am 2/11 Sky Chart After 1am any night look for the triangle formed by Saturn, Spica and Arcturus. The two stars lie to the southeast and northeast of the planet respectively. Saturn is retrograde 12/31/08 - 5/15/09. Saturn is moving closer to Earth, however its brightness is negatively affected because its reflective rings are nearly closed, giving us a wafer-thin, edge-on view. The maximum ring tilt of 27º occurred in 2003; 1/24 Saturn's rings tilt around 1.1º. The rings gradually open to 4° by late May, then close to exactly edge-on in September, when the planet is out of sight in conjunction with the Sun.

Mercury reaches inferior conjunction 1/20 and reappears in the predawn sky during the first week of February. About half an hour before sunrise, early birds with a clear, flat view can see the planet hugging the southeastern horizon. By 2/4 Mercury stands pretty much at its maximum altitude. In the following weeks Mercury gets brighter, but not higher. 2/13 the planet is at it's greatest distance west of the Sun (26º), known as its greatest elongation. At this time it is in a challenging to see, predawn planetary line-up with Mars and Jupiter. 6:30am 2/13 Map By 2/18 Jupiter and Mars change positions in the predawn planetary line-up. 2/18 Map ~ Triple Planetary Treat 2/16-22 Mercury rises around 6:30am in the beginning of Aquarius and by its end at 5:30am.

Jupiter, after being in exact conjunction with the Sun 1/23, reappears in the east-southeastern predawn sky in mid-February. The planet, rising an hour before the Sun around 6:00am, lies low on the horizon. You'll need an unobstructed view to catch an early morning glimpse of our gaseous giant. Mars lies near Jupiter first above then below the planet. Jupiter is about 10x brighter than our Red Planet. Mercury shines above the pair. 6:30am 2/13 Map ~ 2/18 Map ~ Triple Planetary Treat 2/16-22

Mars reappears in the mid-February morning sky at 6:00am about an hour before sunrise. You'll need an unobstructed east-southeastern horizon, keen eyes and binoculars to spot its dim glow in the bright twilight. Find Jupiter, which shines about 10x brighter and you can begin to look for Mars. 2/13 Mars lies above Jupiter. Look for Mercury at greatest elongation above the pair. 6:30am 2/13 Map By 2/18 Mars is a moon-width below Jupiter. 2/18 Map ~ Triple Planetary Treat 2/16-22

The Pleiades star cluster lies above and to the left of the bright red star, Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus the Bull. Look overhead in the early evening (west in the later evening) to find reddish Aldebaran and the mini dipper-shaped sparkling Pleiades, the Bull's shoulder. Winter Stars

Capella is the very bright star overhead and northeast of the Pleiades. It is the brightest star seen the most often. It lies in the constellation Auriga, our celestial Santa. Winter Stars

Orion The Hunter, the cosmic giant, lies overhead between 8pm – 9pm. Navigating with Orion introduces you to the winter stars. Use his belt stars to locate Sirius and Aldebaran, Betelgeuse and Rigel. Notice the colors of these 4 stars. The three belt stars of Orion represent the Three Wise Men. Orion helps one find the Winter Triangle, the Great Winter Hexagon and the Valentine's Star!

Sirius the brightest star in the heavens can be seen in the southeast at sunset. In the beginning of Aquarius Sirius sets in the southwest about 4:00am and at its end around 2:00am.

Arcturus, a bright golden star, rises in the northeast in the beginning of Aquarius about 11:00pm and by its end around 9:30pm. Use the handle of the Big Dipper to arc down to Arcturus from there spike down to blue-white Spica in the south!

Printable Date Tables

Lunar cycle 12/27/08-1/25/09

Lunar cycle 1/25/09-2/24/09

For a print-friendly version of this page click here.

I'd like to know your thoughts about The Night Sky and
if you'd like reminders to Look Up! ...
send me an email.
May your Night Sky traveling always be filled
with Celestial Delights and Treats!
Susan Sun

Getting Started in Astronomy
Includes a downloadable Moon map and bimonthly star charts.

At Skymaps.com download a current monthly guide, evening sky map & calendar.

Link to Sky and Telescope's This Week's Sky at a Glance.

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