FEBRUARY NIGHT SKY 2023

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FEBRUARY NIGHT SKY 2023

Orion, with the nebula clearly visible

The month of February starts with the Moon in Waxing Gibbous phase, already very bright and dominating the night sky, until it reaches full illumination on the 5th day. The Native Americans named the full moon of February the Snow Moon, as most countries in the Northern hemisphere would have snow in this month. There is no chance of snow here in Fuerteventura, but maybe at the highest points of Gran Canaria and on Telde there will be some white Peaks!

Even with the luminous moon, there is a winter constellation, Orion, the famous Hunter, that still shines bright! It has some of the biggest and brightest stars in the night sky. The main figure of Orion consists of seven bright stars. The brightest of these are Betelgeuse on his right shoulder and Rigel on his left knee. Betelgeuse is an enormous red supergiant that NASA thinks might of just gone Supernova, however, at 650 light years from earth we might not see this occurring in our lifetime! Rigel is an enormous blue supergiant and is about 860 light years from us! You can clearly see the differnet colours of these big, bright stars. We can’t forget the hidden treasure in the sword, The Orion Nebula. This is a beautiful example of the birth place of the stars! Observed with the telescope you can appreciate the cloud of gas that new born stars have been born from. We observe it in black and white but in actual fact is full of colours, pink and purple! Look to the south to find this majestic constellation in the night sky.

We are still spolit with the number of Planets visible. Saturn is too low to be observed with the telescope but can just about be seen with the naked eye very low in the western sky. Next Venus, the “evening star” is shinning brighter and brighter as the darkness falls. If we continue along the eliptic path we come across Jupiter and then Mars. All visible with the naked eye and clearing defining this invisible path through the sky!

The New Moon arrives on the 20th day. The nights around this date are the darkest and best to observe the faintest stars. Each night after the Moon will delight us as she appears slightly more illuminated. We finish the month with the Moon once again in Waxing Gibbous phase.

Clear skies to everyone!

And keep Looking up!

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