feb 2014 sky notes
TRANSCRIPT
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
1/22
EXTANT LIFE ON MARS?THE MARS SOCIETY
CY SCIENCE PUBLICATION: WWW.ICYSCIENCE.COM: WINTER 2013/14
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
2/22
2
L O O K U P I N WO N D E R : W W W . I C Y S C I E N C E . C O M
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
3/22
L O O K U P I N W O N D E R : W W W. I C Y S C I E N C E . C
LOOK UP
IN WONDER
IMAGE OPPOSITE: A supernova in M82 named 2014J photographed here by Brian B Ritchie
Welcome to the February 2014 astronomy mini magazine.
This month John Harper FRAS (President Scarborough and
Rydale Astronomical Society) gives us a guide to Febs night
sky.
We also have a monthly update on news on the ISS by Cian
ORegan
Finally.... M 82
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
4/22
4
L O O K U P I N WO N D E R : W W W . I C Y S C I E N C E . C O M
February 2014
As the month starts, the Sun lies within the constellaon of Capricornus, the Sea Goat, unl it crosses
the border with Aquarius on the 16th at around 10h, where it remains unl the months end.
The MoonThe moons perigee (nearest to the earth) occurs at 19h53 on the 27th, and apogee (furthest from th
earth) around 05h11 on the 12th.
First Quarter takes place on the 6th at 19h23 in Aries, 15 below and to the right of the Pleia-des star cluster (Seven Sisters).
Februarys Full Moon is on the 14th at 23h54 in the constellation of Leo, near the borderwith Sextans. The star twinkling in the bright moonlight 8 to the upper left of the moon is Regulus
the brightest star in Leo. Bright Jupiter is way over to the right, above Orion.
Last Quarter moon is on Feb 22nd at 17h16, on the Ophiuchus/Scorpius boundary. At 04hthe next day it may be seen low in the SE sky 7 above and to the left of Antares, brightest star in
Scorpius.
You will have noticed that February is missing a New Moon, as occurred in 1995, and this scenario
wont happen again until 2033. February is the only calendar month, which can be missing the same
moon phase twice. (New, First Q, Full, or Last Q)!
Look out for Earthshine illuminating the dark hemisphere of the waxing crescent moon from the
beginning to the 5th of the month in the early evening sky, and the waning crescent on the 23rd to
the end of the month in the early morning sky.
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
5/22
L O O K U P I N W O N D E R : W W W. I C Y S C I E N C E . C
The PlanetsMercury sets two hours aer the sun during the rst few days ofthe month, and this is the best me to look for the planet, low in the S
sky, between 17h30 and 18h00. On the 1st the very thin waxing crescewith earthshine on its dark hemisphere, will be immediately above Me
cury by some 7. So at 18h on the 1st, nd the moon in the fading SW
twilight, and using binoculars, scan downwards towards the horizon. Y
then should be able to nd this elusive lile world, sparkling in the tw
light, 4 above the horizon. Aer this period of visibility the planet mo
in towards its inferior conjuncon with the sun on the 15th. During the
second half of February, the planet moves into the morning sky and ris
an hour before the sun on the 28th. There is almost a repeat performa
between a thin crescent moon and Mercury on the 27th. This me the
waning crescent moon lies 8 slightly to the upper right of Mercury an
the twilight is much stronger. At 06h30, both objects are within 10 of SE horizon and binoculars will be necessary to view both of them sas
factorily. Much further to the right of the moon and slightly higher is t
brilliant Morning Star, the planet Venus.
Throughout February, Venusdominates the morning sky, rising befo06h at the start of the month, and just before 05h at the months end.
There is an exceponally beauful close conjuncon between the moo
and Venus on the 26th, when at 05h as they are rising in the SE sky, Ve
is only 18 minutes of arc above the northern cusp of the waning cresce
moon. The whole spectacle is enhanced by earthshine illuminang thelunar night hemisphere. During the next few hours as they connue to
gain altude in the SE sky, the rapid moon of the moon takes the la
away from Venus in an easterly direcon, but the pair look beauful c
to each other as morning twilight increases. A binocular view will be q
stunning, with both objects in the same eld of view.
Mars may be seen travelling slowly eastwards above Spica, the brigest star in Virgo throughout the month. It is interesng to compare the
colours of the two objects; the brighter Mars with its reddish nge and
the icy-blue of Spica (alpha Virginis). At around 06h at the beginning o
the month, given a clear sky, it is possible to see four bright planets in morning sky. The four are Venus, 5 above the SE horizon on the Scutu
Sagiarius border; Saturn, at an altude of 20 in the south; Mars abo
Spica in the SSW around 25 in altude; and nally, Jupiter low in the N
in Gemini, 4 above the horizon there. Overnight on the 18th/19th, th
gibbous waning moon, Mars and Spica, produce an interesng triangu
formaon in the night sky, with Spica at the lower apex of this celesa
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
6/22
6
L O O K U P I N WO N D E R : W W W . I C Y S C I E N C E . C O M
triangle. By 05h on the 19th, Mars is 5 from Spica, which in turn is 5 to the east of the bright moon.
following night 19th/20th, the eastwards moon of the waning gibbous moon has produced another
with Mars at its upper apex. Mars, Spica and the moon in this triangular formaon will produce a glo
spectacle at an altude of 10 in the SE at midnight.
Having reached opposion last month, Jupiter connues to shine brightly and steadily all-night, h
the constellaon of Gemini, and so further opportunies to see the ever changing paerns of the foulean satellites connue throughout the month. On the 11th, the bright waxing gibbous moon may be
in conjuncon with the planet, when the two are separated by some 5. At 00h, if you draw a line thr
Jupiter and the moon, and connue that line downwards, you will come across the stars Betelgeuse a
separated by the three stars of Orions belt.
During February,Saturnrises at 02h at the beginning, and at 00h30 by the end of the month. It isfore only visible during the early hours of the morning ll dawn. The ringed planet spends the month
ling slowly eastwards in the constellaon of Libra, and is unmistakable as there are no other bright st
that immediate area. On the morning of the 22nd, the moon almost at last quarter, may be seen risin
neath Saturn at around 02h in the SE sky. At this me, Saturn is 3 to the upper right of the moon.
If the sky is clear, at around 21h on the 3rd, you will see the four day old waxing crescent moon with
shine about 10 above the western horizon, and if you carefully scan just 2 (four moon widths) to th
the moon and at the same altude, the greyish green coloured faint star you will see is the planetUranus.At this me, the moon aords a rare opportunity to help you locate this remote world,discovered by William Herschel in 1781. Both objects are in Pisces, just to the north of the Cetus bor
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
7/22
L O O K U P I N W O N D E R : W W W. I C Y S C I E N C E . C
Neptune is in conjuncon with the sun and lies far beyond it on the 23rd, and is not favourably placedfor observaon during February.
There are no major meteor showers during the month, and so we expect to see the normal background
rate of four noceable events during each hour of the night.
Constellaonsvisible in the south around midnight, mid-month, are as follows: Cancer, Leo, Hydra,with its brightest star Alphard (the solitary one), and the faint constellaon of Sextans the Sextant, to be
found just below Leos brightest star Regulus.
All mes are GMT 1 is one nger width at arms length.
JOHN HARPER FRAS
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
8/22
8
L O O K U P I N WO N D E R : W W W . I C Y S C I E N C E . C O M
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
9/22
L O O K U P I N W O N D E R : W W W. I C Y S C I E N C E . C
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
10/22
10
L O O K U P I N WO N D E R : W W W . I C Y S C I E N C E . C O M
ISS Monthly Recap
January 2014
It has been an extremely busy start to the newyear for the Expedition 38 crew aboard theInternational Space Station, as they picked upexactly where they left off in the first month of2014.
The month began with the space station crew
ringing in the new year by carrying out work onexperiments in the unique microgravity foundon the ISS. The crew also paid special attentionto a series of health checks, in particular eye ex-
aminations. Using the stations Ocular Healthexperiment, the six astronauts and cosmo-nauts collected detailed imagery of eachothers eyes and any changes that may havetaken place. Astronauts who have returnedto Earth after spending several months
living on the ISS have experienced visionchanges upon their return, due to changesin in pressure in the eye itself.
The space stations 57 foot-long robotic arm,Canadarm2, performed a detailed inspec-tion of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer onJanuary 2. AMS-02, which launched aboardSpace Shuttle Endeavour on STS-134, is themost advanced magnetic spectrometer in
space, and is being used to gather cosmicparticles in an effort to enhance our under-standing of the universe.
Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo craft was captured by Canadarm2
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
11/22
L O O K U P I N W O N D E R : W W W. I C Y S C I E N C E . C
The highlight of the acvies on the US Segment of the sta-
on was the arrival of the Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo cra,
which delivered over a tonne of supplies and spare parts to the
staon.
Originally scheduled to launch back in December 2013, the
launch of Cygnus had to be delayed due to an unexpected
failure in one of the staons ammonia pump modules, lo-
cated on the staons truss, which is responsible for cooling
staon systems and science on board. This meant that astro-
nauts Mike Hopkins and Rich Mastracchio had to perform two
spacewalks(EVAs) in order to remove the faulty pump module
and replace it with another. All systems now appear nominal.
After a series of further weather delays, Cygnus finallylaunched from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Janu-
ary 9. After spending three days performing a series of orbital
burns and maneuvers, Cygnus, which is named after former
NASA astronaut Gordon Fullerton, and which made its first
test flight to the ISS back in October 2012, was captured by
Hopkins and Wakata using the stations Canadarm2 and later
berthed to the Earth facing port of the Harmony Node of the
International Space Station on January 12. The crew quickly
got to work on opening the hatches between the ISS and
Cygnus, and began unloading the wide variety of scientific
instruments, experiments and cargo shortly after.
One newly arrived investigation will study the decreased
effect of antibiotics during spaceflight. Another will examine
how different fuel samples burn in microgravity, which could
inform future design for spacecraft.
Cygnus will spend around a month docked to the ISS, before
a scheduled unberthing from Harmony and a destructive re-
entry into the Earths atmosphere in February.
Kotov & Ryazanskiy during EVA on
December 27
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
12/22
12
L O O K U P I N WO N D E R : W W W . I C Y S C I E N C E . C O M
On the Russian segment of the Internaonal Space Staon, the focus was on the upcoming spacewalk
January 27 by cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazanskiy. The duo will aempt to complete the ins
laon of two Earth observaonal cameras on the exterior of the Zvezda Service Module, a task which h
to be postponed due to telemetry issues with the cameras themselves during a recent EVA on Decemb
27.
Well thats all for what happened on the Internaonal Space Staon this month. Be sure to check out
Space Blog for further updates and news regarding the Internaonal Space Staon.
Thank You for reading Irish Space Blog!
Be sure to follow us on Twier: @irishspaceblog
http://irishspaceblog.blogsp
https://twitter.com/irishspacebloghttp://irishspaceblog.blogspot.ie/http://irishspaceblog.blogspot.ie/https://twitter.com/irishspaceblog -
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
13/22
L O O K U P I N W O N D E R : W W W. I C Y S C I E N C E . C
http://www.irishblog.blogspot.com/ -
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
14/22
14
L O O K U P I N WO N D E R : W W W . I C Y S C I E N C E . C O M
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
15/22
L O O K U P I N W O N D E R : W W W. I C Y S C I E N C E . C
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
16/22
16
L O O K U P I N WO N D E R : W W W . I C Y S C I E N C E . C O M
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
17/22
L O O K U P I N W O N D E R : W W W. I C Y S C I E N C E . C
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
18/22
18
L O O K U P I N WO N D E R : W W W . I C Y S C I E N C E . C O M
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
19/22
L O O K U P I N W O N D E R : W W W. I C Y S C I E N C E . C
Students and Staff at the University of College London have discovered an exploding star in Mess
82 (M82). It is one of the closest star explosions discovered in 27 years. Already amateur astronom
are photographing the supernova. The discovery happened on the early evening of Jan 21st by BeCooke, Tom Wright, Matthew Wilde and Guy Pollack assisted by astronomer Steve Fossey.
You can find M82 or the Cigar galaxy by looking toward the The Plough in Ursa Major.
Image above: Stellarium. Image below:
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
20/22
20
L O O K U P I N WO N D E R : W W W . I C Y S C I E N C E . C O M
-
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
21/22
L O O K U P I N W O N D E R : W W W. I C Y S C I E N C E . C
www.icyscience.com
Be inspired join thedebate......
Icy Science is a freeScience, Space and
Astronomy magazine
http://www.icyscience.com/http://www.icyscience.com/http://www.icyscience.com/ -
8/13/2019 Feb 2014 Sky Notes
22/22
22
@DavesAstronomy
FaceBook Group
https://twitter.com/DavesAstronomyhttps://twitter.com/DavesAstronomyhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/scarbastro/https://www.facebook.com/groups/scarbastro/https://twitter.com/DavesAstronomyhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/scarbastro/https://twitter.com/DavesAstronomy