Saturn in Spring-NASA
February is always the shortest month. In the next 4 weeks, those in the Northern Hemisphere won’t have much to see in the night sky. However, the New Moon on February 9th will provide great opportunities to see the gas giants Saturn and Jupiter. They will be in extreme proximity to the young moon, offering stargazers easy planet-finding and minimal light pollution.
On February 10th, after sundown in America and around 23:00 in Central Europe, the ringed planet of Saturn will be approximately 1.8 degrees north of the Moon, which will be just one day old. This presents a perfect chance to see Saturn, as the Moon will help locate it quickly without producing much light pollution. Although the famous rings can’t be seen with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope will enable you to see them.
The same principle will allow the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter, to be easily found and seen on February 15th after midnight in the USA or around dawn in Europe. The gas giant will be at 3.2 degrees south of the Moon, which will be one day short of the first quarter—a beautiful combination.
Additionally, the α-Centaurid meteor shower will peak late at night in the USA on the 8th. Although it’s a small shower of around 5 shooting stars per hour, the sky will be exceptionally dark as it arrives just one day before the New Moon.
February’s full moon will be a “micromoon,” the opposite of a supermoon. A supermoon occurs when the date of the full moon corresponds to the Moon’s position in “perigee,” meaning the closest point to Earth in its orbit. Conversely, a micromoon occurs when the date of the full moon corresponds to the Moon’s position in “apogee,” the farthest point from Earth in its orbit.
In the 1760s, Captain Jonathan Carver visited with a group of Dakota Indians called the Naudowessie, and wrote that they termed this full moon the “Snow Moon” because more snow usually fell during this period, according to Old Farmer’s Almanac. The Cree traditionally called this the Bald Eagle Moon, while the Tlingit called it the Black Bear Moon because bear cubs were born at this time. The Cherokee called it the Hungry Moon, because food was hard to come by.
SHARE What’s Up In The Night Sky On February With Your Friends…
