February 2021

Mercury starts the month as an evening object. If you can see it after sunset in February, that’s impressive. True to its reputation, the planet is heading sunward quickly. From around 13° north latitude, the planet sets an hour after sunset on the 1^st.. That’s where the best viewing is. But even there, it’s impossible to see just a few days into the month. Mercury is at inferior conjunction on the 8^th.

Mars is slowly moving from a place between Aries and the head of Cetus to a place near the Pleiades. The nearly first quarter moon will pass by the planet on the 18^th.

Venus is a morning object and is almost as much of a challenge as Mercury. It rises an hour before the sun from 16° south on the 1^st. Venus and Saturn will be close on the 6^th. Maybe you can pick them out from a low southern latitude with binoculars, a clear horizon, and cooperative weather. On the 10^th, a thin waning crescent moon is near Saturn above Venus which is getting close to Jupiter. Venus and Jupiter are closest the next morning. But even from the ideal latitude, they will be very close to the horizon while dawn’s light is obscuring many of the stars and planets.

By the middle of the month, Saturn is easier to spot rising before Jupiter. And Mercury has reappeared in our morning sky. The messenger planet is left of Jupiter on the 14^th and seems on a fast track to meet Saturn. But about halfway between the two big planets, Mercury seems to change its mind and swing back to Jupiter. Mercury and Jupiter will have a close call on March 5^th. Mercury hasn’t actually reached greatest elongation in the morning sky yet in February. It’s just not moving as fast westward as the stars behind it, so it has the appearance of retreating.

The moon’s situations this month: goes south of the equator on the 2^nd, last quarter on the 4^th, southern lunistice 25.0° on the 8^th, new on the 11^th, goes north on the 15^th, first quarter on the 19^th, northern lunistice 25.1° on the 23^rd, and full on the 27^th. Perigee is on the 3^rd at 370,000 kilometers. Apogee is on the 18^th at 404,500 kilometers.

Pay attention to astronomy news on February 18^th. The NASA Perseverance rover is to land on Mars on that date. The rover will analyze pieces of rocks and dust on the red planet and look for evidence of microorganisms having lived there. It will also carry an experimental helicopter that engineers hope will fly in the Martian atmosphere.

Also, sometime this month, the Chinese Tianwen-1 orbiter and rover will arrive at the red planet. The mission is to look for water beneath the Martian surface. Scientists know there used to be water on the planet’s surface because of river channels and minerals that need water to form. They wonder if any still exists beneath the surface and if living organisms are in it.

Notable conjunctions in February:

3^rd Moon and Spica 6.2°

6^th Saturn and Venus 0.4°

6^th Moon and Antares 5.3°

10^th Moon and Saturn 3.3°

10^th Moon and Venus 3.1°

10^th Moon and jupiter 3.6°

11^th Jupiter and Venus 0.4°

13^th Mercury and Venu 4.5°

15^th Mercury and Jupiter 3.8°

19^th Moon and Mars 3.5°

20^th Moon and Aldebaran 4.9°

23^rd Mercury and Saturn 4.0°

24^th Moon and Pollux 3.6°

26^th Moon and Regulus 4.3°