Episodes
Wednesday Feb 05, 2020
February 2020
Wednesday Feb 05, 2020
Wednesday Feb 05, 2020
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Welcome to Observing With Webb, where a high school astronomy teacher tells you what you’re looking at, why it’s so cool, and what you should check out later this month…at night.
February starts out slow, but picks up speed as the dawn skies get crowded with some favorite planets, a lunar flyby, an occultation of Mars for some, Venus shining bright all month, and all naked eye planets visible at some point.
EVENTS...
First Quarter Moon – 1st (Visible until midnight)
Full Moon – 9th (Visible all night)
Last Quarter Moon – 15th (Visible from midnight into the morning)
New Moon – 23rd (darkest skies)
18th – Moon Occults Mars – The planets, Sun, and Moon all pretty much follow a path in the sky called the ecliptic, varying only a few degrees. That variation makes it uncommon, but not unusual, for the Moon to pass in front planets and completely block, or occult, the planet. This happens in the morning hours of February 18th. It’ll be tough to spot, as you’ll need a small telescope in order to find Mars in the twilight. However, whether you see it or not, Mars will disappear behind the Moon at 7:30am and reappear at 9:00am. If you have a tracking scope, set it up to track Mars in the early morning, then keep watching until it reappears. REALLY want to see it? Go further West, past the Mississippi River to witness it in night skies.
17th – 20th – Close Encounter – Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn – This is the best week of the month to get out there!!! Get out after 6:00am each morning this Mon - Thurs and enjoy the lineup, moving up and to the right, of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars in the SE, but also enjoy the Moon joining the party. The Moon will be up and to the right of Mars on the 17th, RIGHT next to, and occults, Mars on the 18th, less than 5˚ to the right of Jupiter on the 19th, and less than 3˚ down and to the left of Saturn on the 20th.
26th – 28th – Close Encounter – Moon, Venus – Get out after sunset and watch the SW sky. On the 26th the Moon will be a young, thin crescent about a fist-width below bright Venus. The next night the Moon moves to just 6˚ to the left of Venus, a little thicker and higher. Then on the 28th, the Moon is about 14˚ up and to the left of Venus, thicker and higher yet again.
Naked-eye PLANETS...
- Around Sunset – Venus (SW), Mercury (first 2 weeks)
- Throughout the night – None
- Morning – Mars (SE), Jupiter(SE), Saturn (SE – last 2 weeks)
Mercury
- MIGHT catch it during the first two weeks of February, when it’s about 10˚ above the SW horizon by around 6pm. Look for the dot that’s brighter than the stars, but dimmer than Venus.
Venus
- Venus will spend the month climbing to about 40˚ above the WSW horizon. Find a great view of the Western sky and watch the sunset. Venus will be the brightest light and first object you see off in that direction.
Mars
- Get out after 4:30am, but before sunrise, and look SE to find the ruddy red point of light that is Mars between Sagittarius and Scorpius in the beginning of the month and right above the teapot lid of Sagittarius by the end.
Jupiter
- Jupiter will trail Mars by about 25˚ and 2 hours at the start of February, rising around 6am. By the end of the month, it will only be about 10˚ or one fist-width from Mars, and rising around 4:30
Saturn
- Saturn makes its appearance known yet again for another season in the mornings. About two weeks into the month you should be able to find Saturn less than 10˚ down and to the left of Jupiter in the SE. More importantly, however, this starts Saturn’s long, slow slog to catch up to Jupiter for a Winter Solstice conjunction of less than 1/10th of 1˚
CONSTELLATIONS...
Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out.
After Dinner:
Orion & his winter companions – By 7pm, Orion is about as high as it will get for the night about halfway up the southern sky, tempting us to tour the winter constellations. Begin by finding Orion by looking for three stars in almost a straight line and close to each other, Orion’s Belt, which is surrounded by a bigger, vertical, almost rectangle of stars. Orion will be our guidepost for the other winter constellations. Start at the left belt star and draw a straight line connecting them, then continue that line far past the last belt star about 20˚ or two fist-widths held at arm’s length. There you’ll find the V constellation Taurus, with bright red Aldebaran at the top left of the V. Taurus is part of a big cluster of stars known as the Hyades. Remember that line you just made? Follow it just 10˚ further (one fist-width) and you’ll find a mini-mini-dipper of stars call the Pleiades, which is another open cluster of stars within our Milky Way Galaxy. Let’s go back to the belt, but draw the connecting line from right to left, and continue about 20˚ past the belt, where you’ll find the brightest star in the sky, Sirius. Perhaps you can also see the constellation Canis Major, known as the big dog. We’ll stop there for this month, and pick up next month with Gemini, Auriga, and Canis Minor.
Before Bed:
Auriga, Gemini – Look almost straight up, and you’ll find a pentagon shaped constellation which is the Charioteer Auriga, with its brightest star Capella. Gemini, the twins, will be to the left of Auriga, with bright Castor and Pollux heading them up. For reference, Orion will be below both of them.
Before Work:
Leo, Big Dipper – Leo will be more to the West than before, but the Big Dipper will be super big and bright above Leo’s backward question mark.
Don’t forget to check out my Podbean page, YouTube Channel, and Twitter feed, or get my podcast feed on Stitcher, or iTunes.
Tuesday Dec 03, 2019
December 2019 & January 2020
Tuesday Dec 03, 2019
Tuesday Dec 03, 2019
December and January, though probably very cold, will bring us 6 close encounters, 2 meteor showers, all 5 naked-eye planets, and some very long nights.
EVENTS...
December
- First Quarter Moon – 4th (Visible until midnight)
- Full Moon – 12th (Visible all night)
- Last Quarter Moon – 18th (Visible from midnight into the morning)
- New Moon – 25th (darkest skies)
January
- First Quarter Moon – 2nd (Visible until midnight)
- Full Moon – 10th (Visible all night)
- Last Quarter Moon – 17th (Visible from midnight into the morning)
- New Moon – 24th (darkest skies)
December
1st – AM Close Encounter – Mercury, Mars – If you’re up around 6:30am, today is the best day to look SE to find Mercury and Mars, since Mercury is diving back toward the Sun from our perspective each day. Mercury will be only 10˚ above the horizon, with Mars 20˚ above, up and to the right of Mercury.
1st – PM Close Encounter – Moon, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn – Make sure you watch the western sky after sunset this day, as the Moon will be up and to the left of a brilliant set of the three brightest planets. Venus will be brightest and in the middle between Jupiter and Saturn, with Jupiter lower and to the right, Saturn higher and to the left. If you miss it on the 1st, don’t worry! The lineup will still be there and so will the Moon, but a bit further away from the planets.
10th – Conjunction – Venus, Saturn – Similar to Venus passing Jupiter last month, Venus will get to within 2˚ of Saturn on the 10th. Just get out around sunset, and watch the SW sky for VERY bright Venus, with Saturn about 2 pinky-widths up and a little to the right. This isn’t only cool on the 10th, though, since they are still near other on the nights leading up to and following the 10th. So check it out anytime that week.
13th, 14th – Geminid Meteor Shower – Not a good year for seeing a lot of Geminids, given the moon will be waning gibbous, but don’t give up! You might not see the expected 100 meteors per hour, but if you gaze the opposite direction of the Moon, and go out early after sunset, your chances of catching some great ones will be increased. You should still get about 20 per hour.
Some advice for watching:
Find a dark location and lie down in a reclining chair or swimming pool floaty
Look at the whole sky, but note Gemini is where the radiant is - where the meteors will appear to be coming from. Gemini will be in the East after sunset, South after midnight, West in the morning.
Check the weather to see if the skies will be clear
Adapt your eyes to the dark by staying away from light sources or using a red light if you need to look at a star chart or not trip over something.
If you’re feeling extra nerdy, do a scientific meteor count (S&T and IMO)
Or find out if your local astronomy club or museum is holding a viewing party.
21st – Winter Solstice - The longest night and shortest day of the year for the Northern Hemisphere. More info here: http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/december-solstice.html
27th – 29th – Close Encounter – Moon, Saturn, Venus – You’ll need some pretty clear skies and a good view of the SW horizon for this one. Get out after sunset (yet again), look SW, and find very bright Venus. On the 27th, start at Venus, look down and to the right about a fist-width or more (13˚), VERY low on the horizon, and you should be able to see a VERY thin crescent Moon with a dim-relative-to-the-sky Saturn just 5˚ (three finger-widths) to the right and a little bit lower. If you don’t have good luck on the 27th, the 28th will be much easier, since the Moon will be directly below Venus by only about 3˚. Then, on the 29th, The Moon will move to be about 10˚ up and to the left of Venus.
January
3rd, 4th – Quadrantids Meteor Shower – You might catch 15-25 meteors per hour, with a past first quarter Moon setting around midnight. Follow the same advice as the Geminids. Not a big meteor shower, and it’s cold, but could be worth it.
20th – 21st – Close Encounter – Moon, Mars – Get up and out after 4:30am, and look SE to find a nice crescent Moon. On the 20th, just 4˚ below and a little to the left of the Moon you’ll find the red disk of Mars. If you keep watching, you’ll also be able to spot the brightest star in Scorpio, red Antares, to the right a little down from Mars about the same distance. On the morning of the 21st, the Moon will now be about 8˚ down and to the left of Mars, and thinner.
27th – 28th – Close Encounter – Moon, Venus – Get out after sunset and watch the SW sky. Bright Venus will be about 7˚ above the Moon on the 27th. On the 28th, the Moon will move to be just 6˚ to the left of Venus, and still a wonderful crescent.
Naked-eye PLANETS...
- Around Sunset – Jupiter (1wk only), Saturn (Dec only), Venus (SW)
- Throughout the night – None
- Morning – Mercury (SE 1 wk only), Mars (SE), Jupiter (last 2wks)
Mercury
- MIGHT catch it if you get out around 6:30am and look ESE, but only during the first week of December. Although, if you wait until the last 4 days of January, look WSW after sunset less than 10˚ above the horizon.
Venus
- Venus is BACK and bright! Over these two months, it will rise from just about 10˚ above the SW horizon to about 30˚. Find a great view of the SW horizon with nothing in the way and watch the sunset. Venus will be the brightest light off in that direction.
Mars
- Get out after 5am, but before sunrise, and look SE to find the ruddy red point of light that is Mars. In January, it’ll move into Scorpio, near the red star Antares, whose name means simulating Mars.
Jupiter
- Only really visible for the first couple of days of December, and then the last two weeks of January, but in opposite sides of the sky and times of the day. The first week of December, you’ll have to get out for sunset and watch VERY low on the horizon for the bright, but dimmer than Venus, point of light that is Jupiter. Then, it’s lost in the Sun’s glare for over a month, and reappears in the morning twilight the last two weeks of January. Then, you’ll have to get out around 7am and look SE, low on the horizon. Jupiter will now be a morning planet for the next season or two.
Saturn
- Saturn starts out December up and to the left of Venus and Jupiter in the sunset sky, gets lower in the sky each night, passes Venus on the 10th, and is no longer visible by the end of December
CONSTELLATIONS...
Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out.
After Dinner:
Cassiopeia, Andromeda, & Perseus - Look pretty much straight up you’ll be able to see Andromeda curving off of one corner of Pegasus. If your skies are decently dark, you might catch the faint fuzz that is the Andromeda Galaxy. Cassiopeia will be relatively easy to find as the “W” in the sky, whose right angle points right to Andromeda and her galaxy. Perseus is the other cornucopia-shaped constellation, but opposite of Andromeda, with its curves emptying out toward the Pleiades
Before Bed:
Taurus & the Pleiades – Look almost straight up, but down toward the South a little bit and you’ll find the lovely cluster of stars known as the Pleiades, the Seven Sisters, Subaru, or the mini-mini-dipper. You can easily see 5 or 6 of them with the unaided eye, and perhaps a 7th, depending on light pollution and your eyes. To the left about 5˚ will be the V constellation of Taurus the bull, with bright red Aldebaran as its brightest, and one eye of the bull. Oh, and if you follow a line connecting these two to the left about 10˚, you’ll find Orion.
Before Work:
Leo – Look South, halfway up the sky, to find the backward question mark and right triangle that is Leo the Lion.
Don’t forget to check out my Podbean page, YouTube Channel, and Twitter feed, or get my podcast feed on Stitcher, or iTunes.