The Night Sky for

February 2010

The night sky as seen at 22:00 on the 1st of February, 21:00 on the 14th and at 20:00 on the 28th.

The cardinal points of the compass show the view of the horizon in that direction. For example, if you printed out the image below, to see the stars facing north, you would rotate the picture so that N is on the bottom. The stars will then line up with the actual stars in the sky when looking north.

Mercury is not visible this month.

Venus is not visible this month.

Mars is visible in the east after sunset at the beginning of the month and is high in the sky directly south by midnight. Apart from Sirius it is the brightest object in the sky. By the 14th Mars is high in the east after sunset.

Jupiter is visible just after sunset but is low in the sky and is no longer visible by the second week of Feb.

Saturn rises in the east just after 22:00 at the beginning of the month and by 20:00 at the end of the month.

Orion still continues to dominate the southern sky during the evening. M 42 in Orion's sword is visible to the unaided eye as a star with slight nebulosity surrounding it. Through binoculars the nebula is easily visible and combined with the other stars in Orion's sword, makes a spectacular view.

Follow the line of Orion's belt down to Sirius the brightest star in the sky in the constellation of Canis Major. The whole of the Canis Major is above the horizon and this is the best month to view it. M 41 in Canis Major is an open cluster that is just visible to the unaided eye. It is just below Sirius. Follow a curve up from Sirius and we find Procyon in Canis Minor. Almost half way between Sirius and Procyon is M50 in Monoceros. This is an open cluster that is visible through binoculars. Continue the curve upwards from Procyon and we come to Pollux and Castor in the constellation of Gemini. M 35 in Gemini is an open cluster easily visible in binoculars. Continue the curve and we arrive at Capella in the constellation of Auriga. Auriga contains three open clusters M 36, M 37 and M 38, all of which are visible through binoculars.

Also best placed for observation this month are the constellations Lepus and *Columba.

* Only visible if you have an unobstructed view to the south.