a few things for February 2016

You may have seen in the media something about the planets lining up at the end of January/beginning of February. Strictly speaking, if you travelled far enough away you could always see the planets in a roughly straight line because they all orbit the sun in the same plane i.e. like dots on a disc going round rather than insects round an apple every which way. This is a rare phenomenon – the next occasion like this is October 2018. As for any special meaning – any meaning you care to give it; after all the line-up is pure co-incidence and entirely predictable.

Having said that, an hour or so before dawn at the beginning of February this year, does give us a chance to see all the naked-eye planets (namely, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) in one go. In the UK that means looking towards the Eastern horizon round about 7 a.m. (GMT). Mercury will be very low in the sky and may not be visible if your horizon is blocked by buildings or trees, for instance, or if you are in a valley. Although the planets will change position from night to night, there will be several days when they are visible so it is worth trying more than once especially if one or more mornings are cloudy. Mercury is at “greatest elongation” (i.e. at its highest point away from the sun as we look at it) on 7th February. Round about 7th is therefore, perhaps, our best bet to see.

This is also a good time of year to see Orion.

May 2015

In summertime we might get a bit less cloud (!) but we get less nighttime for astronomy.

From 21st May onwards the waxing crescent Moon passes near Venus and then (around 23rd-24th) near Jupiter. Both these planets should be fairly visible after sunset.

Also on 23rd May, Saturn is at opposition (i.e. at the opposite side of the sky to the sun) so you may find it due South around midnight this month.

Happy New Year 2015

This year I have been given a copy of Collins’ “2015 Guide to the Night Sky” as an alternative to the Philips’ equivalent. It has a good general introduction which you can skip if you like. The entries for each month include two star maps: looking North and looking South and are good for those of us around 50° North. A few highlights to look out for are taken from that book.

A few things to look out for during January

Shooting stars: the Quadrantids are visible from 1st to 6th January with the maximum round 3rd-4th. Unfortunately the moon is full on the 5th so may outshine all but the brightest meteors.

The earth is at perihelion (closest to the sun in its orbit this year) on 4th January this year.

The moon is near Jupiter in the morning sky on the 8th and near Saturn on the morning of the 16th.

Mercury reaches greatest elongation on the evening of the 14th but is low in the sky – you might try looking early in the evenings of 21st – 23rd January when the crescent moon passes near Mercury, Venus and Mars.

 

A few things to look for in May

Although the nights are getting shorter (in the northern hemisphere, at least) there are still some sights to see in the night sky. These suggestions come from a booklet called “Night Sky 2014” published by Phillips.

It is a good time to try to catch a glimpse of Mercury near the north-west skyline after sunset from 7th to 25th May.

Saturn is at opposition on the 10th May. In other words, it will be on the opposite side of the sky to the sun and will appear relatively bright. Also on the 10th the Moon will be to the right hand side of Mars.

The crescent Moon will be visible at sunset on 3rd and 4th May near Jupiter.

It might be worth being on the look out for shooting stars (meteors) this month. An annual shower is expected on the night of 5th-6th May. Meanwhile there are hopes of some on 23rd to 24th May arising from a recently discovered comet.

If you can consult a star map you may be able to spot Arcturus a reddish star – a bit like Mars in colour and one might confuse which is which.

You can also get more info, including sky maps for May, from the Guardian website.