February 2023 – What’s Up!

Week of 27th February

• Astronomical twilight ends at 19:34 GMT at the beginning of the week and at 19:45 GMT by the end of the week.
• Venus (-4.0) and Jupiter (-2.1) finally meet this week, coming to within about half a degree of each other on Wednesday night. Look around 25° above the southwestern horizon just after sunset to see this close approach.
• Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is now a faint and receding fuzzy patch to the west of Orion. It is about mag +9.0 and approaching 1 AU away from Earth.
• The Moon is First Quarter on Monday.
• The Sun currently has 6 active regions and the sunspot number is 129.
• There are no visible evening ISS passes this week.

Week of 20th February

• Astronomical twilight ends at 19:22 GMT at the beginning of the week and at 19:33 GMT by the end of the week.
• On Wednesday, the two day old Waxing Crescent Moon will appear between the planets Venus (-4.0) and Jupiter (-2.1). Look around 20° above the southwestern horizon just after sunset to see this beautiful alignment.
• The Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) show is all but over as the comet dims, currently at mag +8, moving away from Earth, now around 0.75 AU away. It received a sufficient energy boost as it passed the Sun to mean that its orbit has become ‘weakly hyperbolic’ and it is destined to escape the solar system, never to be seen close to Earth again.
• CPRE’s Star Count 2023 continues to run this week, ending on 24th February. Help to monitor levels of light pollution by counting the stars you can see in Orion – full details here: Star Count 2023
• The Moon is New on Monday.
• The Sun currently has 7 active regions and the sunspot number is 109.
• There are no visible evening ISS passes this week.

Week of 13th February

• Astronomical twilight ends at 19:11 GMT at the beginning of the week and at 19:21 GMT by the end of the week.
• Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) is now passing through Taurus, heading towards Orion. It has dimmed to about mag +6.7. Take advantage of the waning Moon to spot the comet with binoculars in the darkness this week.
• Three planets are in our evening sky, from west to east: Venus (-3.9) sets at about 19:45 UT, Jupiter (-2.1) sets at around 21:20 UT and Mars (+0.1) transits at around 19:20 UT.
• Dark skies this week offer a great opportunity to explore Orion, with star birth in the Orion Nebula (M42), double star Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion’s Belt, and a range of star colours in Betelgeuse, Rigel and Bellatrix.
• CPRE’s Star Count 2023 launches this week, running from 17-24 February. Help to monitor levels of light pollution by counting the stars you can see in Orion – full details here: Star Count 2023
• The Moon is Last Quarter on Monday.
• The Sun currently has 12 active regions and the sunspot number is 209.
• There are no visible evening ISS passes this week.

Week of 6th February

• Astronomical twilight ends at 18:59 GMT at the beginning of the week and at 19:09 GMT by the end of the week.
• Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) has passed perigee and is now heading away from Earth. It is decreasing in brightness, currently about mag +5.7. You will find the comet passing through Auriga into Taurus this week. The bright moonlight will hinder the view, so it will be easier to see later in the week, in the relative darkness before the Moon rises.
• Mars (-0.1) is high in our evening sky, though steadily decreasing in apparent size. Jupiter (-2.2) is sinking ever closer to the western horizon, setting at around 21:30 UT this week. Venus (-3.9) is the ‘evening star’ appearing close to the southwestern horizon around sunset.
• The Moon is Waning Gibbous all week.
• The Sun currently has four active regions and the sunspot number is 66.
• There are no visible evening ISS passes this week.