Monthly Night Sky Report: February 2019

I hope that you were able to catch the Quadrantids meteor shower and the total lunar eclipse in January!  I was out of town for the meteor shower, fortunately, the skies were excellent for enjoying this event.  Instead of watching this shower on the peak date, I watched the day before and still saw many meteors.  I was also fortunate enough to watch the lunar eclipse.  It was predicted to be too cloudy over Utah, but we were able to watch most of it until totality.  By that time, the predicted storm blew in so we called it a night.  The next morning, we woke up to a couple inches of snow on the ground with the snow continuing to fall.  I was unable to get any pictures worth sharing from both of these events.   

February won't bring anything as exciting as the meteor shower and lunar eclipse of last month, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy the night sky.  This month will offer the second "supermoon" of 2019.  This "supermoon" will be the largest and brightest of 2019 since the Moon will be closer to the Earth.  This occurs on the 19th during the Full Moon, so give it a look!     

Mercury

Mercury makes its return to our evening sky this month.  This will occur around the 15th with it shining at a magnitude around -1.0.  It can be found about 5° high in the western sky after sunset on this date and will continue to climb higher in the sky each day.  By the 26th, the innermost planet can be found nearly 11° above the western horizon after sunset.  On this date, Mercury is at its greatest eastern elongation, laying 18° away from the Sun.  During February, Mercury will offer it's best views in the evening sky.  So if you want to view this planet after sunset, this is the month to do it!     

Venus

Venus will continue to dazzle the people that rise before the Sun.  It will continue to be an easy object to spot since it will shine at a magnitude of -4.2.  Many people confuse Venus as a UFO because of its brightness.  Please don't be one of these people!  Venus can be found in the constellation of Sagittarius all month.  This constellation lies in the band of the Milky Way so it will offer many deep sky treats if you get a chance to view Venus with a pair of binoculars or a telescope.  By the 18th, Venus and Saturn will pass within 1° of each other.  Saturn might be hard to spot as it glows at only 0.6 magnitude.  Venus will be nearly 80 times as bright as the ringed world but don't let that stop you from trying to spot it.                 

Mars

Mars will still be easy to spot in the evening where it can be found in the southwestern sky.  It will start February off in the constellation of Pisces, but by the 12th will move eastward into the constellation of Aries.  Mars will shine brighter than any of the stars in these two constellations so it should be easy spot with its notable reddish orange color.  Views through a telescope will be disappointing since the planet is so small and lies far away from the Earth in its orbit. 

Jupiter

Jupiter will be the first morning planet to rise, peeking above the southeastern horizon between 4:00 and 4:30 on the 1st (Mountain Time).  Each passing day will find this giant planet rising earlier with the time being around 90 minutes earlier by the end of the month.  Jupiter will reach opposition later this year, but if you can't wait, pull out your binoculars or telescope to view the four largest moons of Jupiter.  If you are using a telescope, you will be able to make out the cloud bands, the Great Red Spot, and even see the shadow of a moon transiting Jupiter.  I know I've mentioned that I have had the opportunity to see this once before and it is quite a sight!  Hopefully when Jupiter is at opposition, I will be able to put together a star party for those interested in viewing an event like this and seeing some of the surface details.             

Saturn

Saturn will rise about 2 hours after Jupiter on the 1st, shining at magnitude 0.6 or so.  As the month progresses, Saturn will rise earlier with it being visible about 2 hours earlier by the 28th.  If you are brave enough to go out in the cold with your telescope, you will be able to see the rings of Saturn.  This planet will also reach opposition later this year, offering better views at a warmer time of the year.  During the mentioned star party, Saturn would also be a great target.

   

Uranus

Neptune

Uranus will be found within 1° of Mars on the 12th.  You will need a pair of binoculars to spot this planet, but it should be easy to find on the 12th by first locating Mars.  It will appear as a blue-green disk which will be quite different then the colors of the nearby stars.  Neptune will be harder to spot this month as it will disappear in the evening twilight by the 2nd week.  On the night of the 1st, Neptune will remain above the horizon until about 8:30 Mountain Time.  You will need a pair of binoculars to spot this most distant planet, which will appear as a blue-grey disk in your field of view.     

Zodiacal Light

There won't be a major meteor shower during February, but if you can get to dark sky site, you can see up to 6 or so meteors per hour.  This is the average nightly rate when there is not a major meteor shower near its peak.  This month will offer the chance of seeing the zodiacal light however.  You will want to be somewhere dark enough that you can make out the Milky Band across the sky since this is about the brightness of the Zodiacal Light.  The best chance to observe this will be between February 21st and March 7th.  When you find Mars in the night sky, continue looking in that direction to see if you can spot the light which will appear as an upside down ice cream cone on the southern horizon.     

Monthly Breakdown

February 02:  Moon and Saturn pass within 1°
February 04:  New Moon 🌑
February 10:  Moon and Uranus pass within 5°
February 10:  Moon and Mars pass within 6°
February 12:  First Quarter Moon 🌓
February 13:  Mars and Uranus pass within 1.5°
February 18:  Venus and Saturn pass within 1.5°
February 19:  Full Moon 🌕
February 19:  Super Moon
February 26:  Last Quarter Moon 🌗
February 27:  Moon and Jupiter pass within 2°

Think About This....💡

As mentioned in my post from last month, we will likely see many new and exciting discoveries in 2019.  On the first day of 2019, New Horizons, the probe that sent back amazing images of dwarf planet Pluto, reached its next target, (486958) 2014 MU₆₉.  For those that are curious, the number in parenthesis is the minor planet number.  It has been nicknamed "Ultima Thule" which means "beyond the known world".  This object lies approximately 44 AU (nearly 5 billion miles) from the Sun which places it in the Kuiper Belt.  When New Horizons visited and photographed Ultima Thule, it became the first object in the Kuiper Belt to be photographed up close and appear as more than just a point of light.

Ultima Thule has been reported to look like a bowling pin or a snowman, with one lobe being larger than the other.  It measures only 20 miles across, a distance in which many people drive in a day going to and from work or school.  Ultima Thule takes nearly 300 years to make one complete trip around the Sun.  By comparison, Pluto takes only 248 years.

Many people find the distance of this object and the technology used to reach such a distance quite fascinating.  While I agree with that and admire the hard work and creativity that went into the design of the New Horizons mission, I find the structure of Ultima Thule even more fascinating.  The images that have been returned from New Horizons show that Ultima Thule looks like a snowman or a bowling pin, as mentioned earlier.  This indicates two smaller objects combining to form one larger one.  It has been theorized for many years that during the formation of planets (and even stars on a larger scale), small pieces of matter combine to form larger ones due to the gravitational force between two (or more) objects.  I've heard the example of "dust bunnies" under the bed quite often.  A small piece of dust or lint finds its way under the bed and eventually other pieces follow suit and combine to make a larger "dust bunny".   The images returned of Ultima Thule fit this idea quite well allowing this object to sometimes be referred to as "the missing link" between small objects like asteroids and larger ones like dwarf planets.               

Now get outside and look up!

Planet images taken by NASA.

Andrew vs. the Cosmos taken by Jeff Greenland.