February 2015 Sky
- Posted by OCastronomy
- On February 1, 2015
- 0 Comments
February 2015 Sky
| 3 | Moon near Beehive Cluster (midnight sky) at 9h UT. • Beehive Cluster (Wikipedia) • M44: The Beehive Cluster (APOD) |
| 3 | Full Moon at 23:09 UT. |
| 4 | Moon near Jupiter (midnight sky) at 6h UT. Mag. -2.6. |
| 5 | Moon near Regulus (morning sky) at 6h UT. |
| 6 | Moon at apogee (farthest from Earth) at 6h UT (distance 406,150 km; angular size 29.4′). |
| 6 | Jupiter at opposition at 18h UT. Best time to observe the largest planet in the solar system. Mag. -2.6. • Opposition (Wikipedia) |
| 9 | Moon near Spica (morning sky) at 19h UT. |
| 12 | Last Quarter Moon at 3:50 UT. |
| 13 | Moon near Saturn (morning sky) at 0h UT. Mag. +0.5. |
| 17 | Moon near Mercury (26° from Sun, morning sky) at 4h UT. Mag. +0.3. |
| 18 | New Moon at 23:47 UT. Start of lunation 1140. • Lunation Number (Wikipedia) |
| 19 | Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) at 7h UT (356,995 km; angular size 33.5′). |
| 21 | Moon, Venus and Mars within circle diameter 2.0° (28° from Sun, evening sky) at 0h UT. Mags. -4.0 and +1.3. |
| 21 | Moon very near Uranus (41° from Sun, evening sky) at 22h UT. Mag. +5.9. Occultation visible from southeast Canada and northeast USA. • Occultation of Uranus (IOTA) |
| 22 | Venus 0.4° SSE of Mars (28° from Sun, evening sky) at 6h UT. Mags. -4.0 and +1.3. |
| 24 | Mercury at greatest elongation, 27° west of Sun (morning sky) at 16h UT. Mag +0.1. |
| 25 | First Quarter Moon at 17:14 UT. |
| 25 | Moon very near Aldebaran (evening sky) at 23h UT. Occultation visible from Scandinavia. • Occultation of Aldebaran (IOTA) • Aldebaran (Wikipedia) |
| The Zodiacal Light is caused by sunlight reflected off meteoric dust in the plane of the solar system. Choose a clear, moonless night, about 1-2 hours after sunset, and look for a large triangular-shaped glow extending up from the horizon (along the ecliptic). The best months to view the Zodiacal Light is when the ecliptic is almost vertical at the horizon: March and April (evening) and October-November (morning); times reversed for the southern hemisphere. • Zodiacal Light (Wikipedia) • Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) • Photographing the Zodiacal Light (Weatherscapes) |
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| February 2015 Sky All times Universal Time (UT). USA Eastern Standard Time = UT – 5 hours. | |
