MOON
Last Quarter 14th 01:12 – 09:49
New 21st 06:32 – 17:25
By the 1st of February, Jupiter is about due south as dusk falls. It sets at 12:15pm, so a reducing time for observation. By the end of February it will set by 10:45pm.
Uranus will be well past southing at dusk on the 1st of February and will set at 9:15pm, a small blue dot of mag +5.9. It will set by month end at 7:30pm. Perhaps just an hour of observing between visible at dusk and setting.
Neptune will be difficult to see this month as it will be setting on the 1st as it becomes visible at dusk. Not worth the effort for so tiny a world. This apparition is at an end.Mars will be rising on the 1st of February at 8:30pm, a 12arcsec disc at mag –0.6. We should be seeing some detail on the planet now. It will set at 9:30am, well after daylight. On the 29th it will rise during dusk and will be with us all night setting well after daybreak. A larger disc at 14 arcsec and mag –1.2.
Saturn will be coming up on the 1st, at midnight, an 18arcsec disc at mag +0.4. It will set after dawn and so will be lost in the Sun’s light. At the end of the month it’ll rise at 10:15 and set, again after dawn.
Venus will be quite high in the sky as the Sun descends into the west and should be visible at 6pm. It will stay till about 8:30pm. As the month progresses it will keep the same distance (angularly) from the Sun, so be in the same place for much of the month as the Sun sets. It will set all month some 4 hours after the Sun, but much of it will be in dusk. It will be a little brighter but showing a phase of 63% by the 29th. On the 10th, it will be accompanied across the sky by the fainter Uranus, 1° away.
Mercury will not be available till the 15th at the soonest so don’t try. It’ll be too close to the Sun. From about the 19th it’ll be setting some 60 mins after the Sun so could be sought. This improves to about 90mins after the Sun by the 29th. A bright, 6 arcsec spot of mag –0.9. With care you may be able to note its gibbous phase of 70%.
Mercury will not be available till the 15th at the soonest so don’t try. It’ll be too close to the Sun. From about the 19th it’ll be setting some 60 mins after the Sun so could be sought. This improves to about 90mins after the Sun by the 29th. A bright, 6 arcsec spot of mag –0.9. With care you may be able to note its gibbous phase of 70%.
COMETS
Garradd is rising up into the top end of Hercules and maintains its brightness of about mag 7. but as a spread out object it will not be as easy to see as a mag7 star. So look towards M92 at the start of the month. It then follows a line to a point a bit south of Kochab, in Ursa Minor. It'll cross the border into Ursa Minor on the 29th, moving fairly fast now.
For a specific star chart get in touch at www.donastro.org.uk , and for satellite timings see http://www.heavens-above.com