Dundee Astro - Sky Notes

February 1st    sunrise   8.08 am GMT   sunset     4.43 pm GMT
February 15th sunrise   7.38 am GMT   sunset     5.14 pm GMT
February 28th sunrise   7.06 am GMT   sunset     5.43 pm GMT

In mid-February, the sky is reasonably dark between 6.30 pm and 6.15 am GMT.

The Sun lies among the stars of Capricornus for the first half of February, and then moves into Aquarius from Monday 16th onwards.

The sunrise, sunset and twilight times given here are for Dundee but generally apply across central Scotland.

Full Moon falls on the evening of Sunday February 1st. The Moon rises in the north-east shortly before sunset, shines high in the south at midnight and sets again in the north-west soon after sunrise the following morning. On the evening of Monday 2nd, the waning gibbous Moon lies to the right of the bright star Regulus in Leo, passing less than 0.5° below the star in the early hours of the morning of Tuesday 3rd.

In the early hours of Saturday 7th, the waning gibbous Moon will sit around 3° to the lower right of the bright white star Spica in Virgo.

Last Quarter is on the afternoon of Monday February 9th; the half-illuminated Moon rises in the south-east in the early hours of the following morning and is low in the south at dawn.

The waning crescent Moon may be seen very low in the dawn twilight up until Thursday 12th.

New Moon occurs around noon on Tuesday February 17th, and a very narrow young crescent Moon may be spotted low in the south-west shortly after sunset on Wednesday 18th. On that evening, the Moon will appear around 4° to the lower right of the planet Mercury and an equal distance to the upper left of Venus, which will be just a few degrees above the horizon. By the following evening, Thursday 19th, the crescent Moon will be easier to spot around about 10° to the upper left of Mercury, and 4° to the right of Saturn (see illustration below).

First Quarter is on Tuesday February 24th; the Moon will appear high in the south as the sky grows dark, lying to the left of the Pleiades star cluster and above the bright red giant star Aldebaran.

On the evening of Thursday 26th, the gibbous Moon will be 8° to the upper right of the planet Jupiter, and on the following evening, Friday 27th, it will lie a similar distance out to the planet’s left.

Mercury is in the evening sky this month, initially setting only around 30 minutes after the Sun but then climbing higher to reach its greatest elongation east of the Sun on February 19th, when it will be setting in the south-west almost two hours after sunset and shining at magnitude -0.4. It then begins to drop back in towards the Sun though it will remain visible, setting well over an hour after the Sun at the end of the month.

Venus also emerges into the evening sky during February, shining brightly at magnitude -3.9; however it remains low above the south-west horizon after sunset, setting just 30 minutes after the Sun at the start of the month and around an hour after by the month’s end.

Mars rises just a few minutes ahead of the Sun this month and won’t be visible.

Jupiter continues to shine brightly at magnitude -2.5 high in the south in the late evening, to the right of the bright stars Castor and Pollux in the constellation of Gemini.

Saturn is now low in the south-west in the early evening at magnitude 1.1, setting just after 2100 UT at the beginning of February and before 2000 UT pm by the end.

Uranus lies in western Taurus about 5° to the lower right of the Pleiades; it is currently at magnitude 5.7.

Neptune is low in the south-west only around 1° from Saturn

The giant figure of Orion the Hunter stands high in the south on February evenings, surrounded by the other brilliant stars of the winter sky. Orion’s left shoulder is represented by the red star Betelgeuse, and his right knee by blue-white Rigel. The distinctive line of stars marking Orion’s belt points upwards to the yellow star Aldebaran in the V-shaped head of Taurus the Bull; a little further along this line is the star cluster of the Pleiades or Seven Sisters.

Orion’s belt leads downwards to Sirius, or the Dog Star. At magnitude -1.4 this is the brightest star in the night sky, and although it is actually a white star, Sirius twinkles strongly, appearing to flash different colours as it does so.

The Square of Pegasus and the stars of Andromeda are now low in the south-west, with the ‘W’ of Cassiopeia just above. High overhead are the stars of Perseus and Auriga, along with the constellation of Gemini and its Twin stars Castor and Pollux, this year joined by the brilliant planet Jupiter. Below Gemini is the bright star Procyon, often known as the ‘Little Dog Star’.

Climbing higher in the east is Leo, with the bright star Regulus at the bottom of the ‘Sickle’ of stars representing the Lion’s head. Lower in the south-east is Alphard, brightest star in the constellation of Hydra the Water Snake. This long, straggling constellation is actually the largest in the sky, though most of its stars are rather faint and its outline difficult to follow. Yellow-coloured Alphard stands out in an otherwise barren area of sky; appropriately enough, its name means ‘the Solitary One’.

The seven stars of the Plough are high in the north-east, the two ‘pointer’ stars showing the way to the Pole Star. The curve of the Plough’s handle leads down to the red giant star Arcturus, low in the north-east. Two of the stars of the ‘Summer Triangle’, Deneb and Vega, remain visible all year round from Scotland, and on February evenings can be found low above the northern horizon.

The Milky Way continues to be well-placed in the sky during February, appearing as a faint band of light stretching from Deneb in the north-west, through Cassiopeia and Perseus, and into the south-east between Orion and Gemini.