The February Sky

Paul Curtin

Special Events This Month: Antarctica gets a view of an annular solar eclipse on 7 February. This is visible as a partial solar eclipse in New Zealand, Australia, and Oceania. A total lunar eclipse will occur the night of 20-21 February 20-21 in North and South America, Europe, and Africa.

The bright winter Milky Way still provides a wealth of interesting objects. The far north however, begins the trend away from our galaxy and into the regions of deep space objects. Our first subject is the linear form of Lynx, west and south of the more distinct Ursa Major. Lynx has some fine multiple stars, such as the triple 5 Lyncis and the quadruple 19 Lyncis, as well as the Sagitta-like asterism Struve 1282. The lone deep sky object here is NGC 2419, a globular cluster wandering free among the galaxies of the Local Group. Star hopping to find the objects of Lynx can be extremely trying. Observers with setting circles or go-to systems have a definite advantage here.

Moving south from Lynx we leave barren fields and enter Gemini, a constellation more in keeping with the likes of Taurus and Orion. The main body of Gemini consists of two roughly parallel lines headed in the east by Castor (for the northern line) and Pollux (the southern line). The lines point towards Orion and both end in little angled “feet.” North of the northern foot is the rich open cluster M35 (NGC 2168). This object is lovely whether observed in binoculars or larger telescopes. Telescopes are better suited for viewing the other open clusters such as NGC 2129, 2266, 2355, and NGC 2395. The famous “Clown face” planetary nebula, NGC 2392, can be found by following a line from delta to slightly east of 63. Many of the stars of Gemini are multiple, including all of the stars of the northern line.

Due south of Castor and Pollux is Canis Minor, comprised of the solitary bright star Procyon and a motley collection of fainter stars. This companion to the larger dog lacks any sort of form and is noteworthy mainly because of the similarity between Procyon and Sirius.

West of Canis Minor is the extended form of Monoceros. This constellation more than compensates for its lack of interesting stars with a wealth of interesting deep sky wonders. The two most outstanding objects are the “Rosette” nebula and NGC 2264, both emission nebulae enveloping charming open clusters. Less flashy, but worth the search, is NGC 2261, Hubble’s Variable Nebula. Look for this just southeast of NGC 2264. Monoceros also hosts a number of open clusters such as M50 (NGC 2323), NGC 2215, 2225, 2251 and numerous others. Having located the Rosette Nebula, don’t miss the fine triple to the west, epsilon. Beta, a star hop to the west from M50, is also a nice triple star.

Follow the line formed by the belt stars of Orion to the east and you will find Sirius, the brightest star visible. Sirius appears to be the head of a two-legged figure with outstretched arms. This is the main part of Canis Major. With binoculars or a finder scope, sweep south from Sirius to find M41, a very nice open cluster. Although this is the only object in this constellation included in the Messier Catalogue, here are a large number of open clusters and beautiful star fields in Canis Major, as befits a Milky Way constellation. There are also a number of multiple stars in this region, including the extremely challenging Sirius.

Puppis is the wide ranging constellation occupying the region east and south of Canis Major. Its northern sector contains the open clusters M46 and M47. These can be found by following the line formed by Sirius and the crux of Canis Major towards the east. If the seeing is good, try to locate the planetary nebula NGC 2438 embedded in the northern edge of M46. To the south, where the form of Puppis begins, is M93, a dense open cluster. These are just three of the multiple open clusters sprinkled throughout this rich constellation. Far south, just outside the Milky Way, is brilliant Canopus--the brightest star in the deep southern summer.

The Planets in February

Mercury is visible in the second half of the month especially for viewers in the south. Look for it in the early morning sky. It will pass just north of Venus on the morning of the 26th.

Venus is in the morning sky. Like Mercury, it is best viewed by southern observers.

Mars continues to move away from earth. It becomes harder to see details on the disc, but it remains quite impressive to the naked eye.

Jupiter is in the morning sky. Look for Jupiter and Venus together on the morning of 1 February.

Saturn is in Leo and can thus be observed throughout most of the night.

Bibliography

Burnham, Robert Jr., Burnham's Celestial Handbook, New York: Dover, 1978.

Kelly, P. (ed.), Observers Handbook 2007. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006.

Kepple, G. R., Sanner, G. W., The Night Sky Observers Guide, Richmond, Virginia: Willman-Bell, 1999.

Tirion, W., Rappaport, B., Remaklus, W., Uranometria Deep Sky Atlas, Richmond, Virginia: Willman-Bell, 2000.

Webb, T. W., Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes, New York: Dover, 1962.