February 2021 What’s Up!

Week of 22nd February

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 19:26 UT at the beginning of the week and at 19:37 UT by the end of the week
  • Following the initial success of all three Martian missions, study Mars yourself this week as the planet remains well placed in our evening sky. It is in the southwest at an altitude of around 50°, shining at mag +0.8 and it sets at around 01:00 UT. Track its progress towards the Pleiades over the coming week
  • The Moon is Full on Saturday – The Snow Moon
  • The Sun currently has one active region, AR 2803. The sunspot number is 12
  • There are no visible evening ISS passes this week

Week of 15th February

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 19:15 UT at the beginning of the week and at 19:25 UT by the end of the week
  • On Thursday evening, NASA’s Perseverance rover is due to touch down in the Jezero Crater on Mars soon after 19.15 UT. Go to the NASA website to watch a live stream of the event
  • Also on Thursday, the waxing crescent Moon (mag -9.2) will be in conjunction with Mars (+0.8), appearing less than 5° apart in the sky
  • The Moon is First Quarter on Friday
  • The Sun currently has no sunspots. The spotless stretch is 10 days
  • There are no visible evening ISS passes this week

Week of 8th February

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 19:03 UT at the beginning of the week and at 19:13 UT by the end of the week
  • This week is Star Count, an initiative run by CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) to measure the levels of light pollution across the country. The public is asked to count the number of stars visible within the four corner stars of Orion and submit their finding along with location to the survey. Why not get involved and make your own Star Count observation? Check the CPRE Website for full details
  • Destination Mars – three separate missions to Mars will arrive at the red planet during February. The first two, UAE’s Hope probe and China’s Tianwen-1 orbiter, should arrive this week. The third, NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, is scheduled to arrive later this month on the 18th
  • The Moon is New on Thursday
  • The Sun currently has no sunspots. The spotless stretch is 3 days
  • There are no visible evening ISS passes this week

Week of 1st February

  • Astronomical twilight ends at 18:52 UT at the beginning of the week and at 19:02 UT by the end of the week
  • Mars is perhaps the highlight of this week’s night sky. Find the ‘Red Planet’ in the southwest through the evening, shining at mag +0.5. Look about 6° further west along the ecliptic to spot Uranus (mag +5.8)
  • With a waning Moon, this is the perfect time to hunt down some of the fainter objects, e.g. M1, the Crab Nebula, in Taurus (mag +8.4) or perhaps even M76, the Little Dumbbell Nebula, in Perseus, though that is a serious challenge as at only 3 arcminutes in apparent size and mag +10, it is one the faintest objects in Messier’s list
  • The Moon is Last Quarter on Thursday
  • The Sun currently has no sunspots. The spotless stretch is 3 days
  • The ISS makes visible evening passes this week as follows:Monday: 17:51, W to ESE, max 78° & 19:28, W to SW, max 26°
    Tuesday: 18:41, W to SSE, max 36°
    Wednesday: 17:53, W to SE, max 48° & 19:31, WSW to SSW, max 13°
    Thursday: 18:43, W to S, max 19°
    Friday: 17:56, W to SSE, max 26°
    Sunday: 17:59, WSW to SSW, max 13°
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