Cosmic Spectacle: Bright planets converge, star clusters shine in February skies


Devdiscourse News Desk | California | Updated: 02-02-2023 09:11 IST | Created: 01-02-2023 18:50 IST
Cosmic Spectacle: Bright planets converge, star clusters shine in February skies
Representative image Image Credit: ANI

February is a good time to observe planetary pairing, the constellation Auriga as well as star clusters in the sky. According to the skywatching tips shared by NASA, the two brightest planets in the sky, Jupiter and Venus, will appear closer together each evening throughout the month.

On February 22nd, the thin crescent Moon and Jupiter will be just one degree apart with Venus positioned below them. Over the next week, the two planets will move closer together, reaching their closest point in the sky on March 1st.

On February 27th, the Moon and Mars will be closely aligned, appearing within one degree of each other, high in the southwestern sky after sunset.

Other celestial events to look for in February 2023 include:

The charioteer constellation, Auriga, makes for a worthy target to pick out in the sky. Auriga is located near the celestial equator and contains several bright stars, including Capella, which is one of the brightest stars in the night sky. Located south of Capella is the bright star Elnath, which is technically a part of the neighbouring constellation Taurus. However, it plays a role in defining Auriga's roughly circular shape. 

Auriga is relatively easy to find, thanks to Capella and Elnath. From Orion, look northward twice Orion's height to find Capella.

Throughout the month, you can search for two easily visible star clusters - M41 and M47 - by using the bright star Sirius in the sky as a reference point. M41 can be found 4 degrees south of Sirius and should be visible in binoculars as a faint patch of light. It spans a width on the sky similar to the full moon, but is actually 25 light-years across and located 2,300 light-years away from us.

To find M47, start at Sirius and move east about 12 degrees and then a couple of degrees to the north. It is about the same size on the sky as M41 but slightly brighter. M47 is located 1,600 light-years away and covers a space of approximately 12 light-years.

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