Phenomena and interesting astronomical objects that you can see in the sky of February

Since we live on a planet from within this galaxy, if we look at the sky, the stars will appear to be somewhat scattered on the planetarium and difficult to observe even from a location far from light pollution.

In a report published by the French newspaper Le Monde , writer Guillaume Canna said that the Milky Way can be seen in the sky at European latitudes. Since winter nights are longer than summer nights, it is possible to see much of the Milky Way during the time between the end of twilight and the beginning of dawn.

The writer mentioned that the Earth and the rest of the planets of the solar system revolve around the sun, along with a large number of asteroids and comets, all of which belong to a galaxy that contains hundreds of billions of stars, the shape of which resembles a huge “gallet” pancake, its center is bulging.

The Milky Way our galaxy

Since we live on a planet from within the Milky Way, if we look at the sky in the direction that corresponds to its thickness, towards the constellation of the Great Dipper or the constellation Cetus for example; The stars would appear to be somewhat scattered over the planetarium and difficult to spot even from a location far from light pollution. But if we look at the galactic plane, we will see countless stars that appear to be stacked in an irregular boundary range, and here we are talking about the Milky Way.

If the sun were located in the center of the galaxy, the Milky Way would be of equal density regardless of our location on planet Earth, regardless of the parts obscured in one way or another by the dark nebula, but this is not the case because the sun is located on the edge of the galaxy; For this reason, the shape and density of the Milky Way on the celestial dome differs according to the angle of view, that is, towards the center or towards the less dense edges.

The Earth takes a year to revolve around the sun, while the range of the Milky Way that can be observed at night changes over the months. At European latitudes, the most beautiful part of the Milky Way can be seen in summer, which is the bright part within the constellation of Sagittarius, Scorpio and Ophiuchus and is visible since the end of the twilight.

At the beginning of winter nights, the visible part of the galaxy is its edges, which appear to be thinner in the constellation of the Chair or the holder of Ra's al Ghul. The length of winter nights plays a role in the monitoring process, as the length of the night exceeds 10 hours in January on days when the moon is absent. On these nights, a large part of the Milky Way can be observed between the end of dusk and the beginning of dawn, from its least dense parts to its brilliant core.

February nights

At the beginning of February nights, the Milky Way reaches its maximum height by the constellation Sagittarius as it flows into the constellation Canis Major in the southeast and Cygnus in the northwest. The edge of the galaxy appears very thin between the constellation of Perseus and Auriga, and more dense in the constellation of the Unicorn east of the constellation Orion. Not all of this can be seen with the naked eye in areas of light pollution.

At about midnight, the Milky Way draws a large arc over the western horizon from the constellation of flaming in the north to the great southern constellation Al-Kuth, then this arc slowly descends to the west and the galactic strip returns to the eastern side of the planetarium.

Just before dawn, the summer triangle bounded by the stars Vega of the constellation Lyra and Deneb of the constellation of Swan and Eagle Flying returns to the east, and the Milky Way rests on the constellation of Cassiopeia in the north and on the constellation of Scorpio in the southeast.

Dates in the February sky

Jupiter will not rise above 10 degrees one hour after sunset, and will set earlier each evening during February, becoming invisible to the naked eye after the 10th of the same month. This distant conjunction between Jupiter and the Moon is the last opportunity to observe these two bodies together in this part of the night.

Less than a month after its lowest conjunction with the Sun, Venus rises more than two hours ahead of Jupiter to the east and southeast in a very dark star-studded sky, and you'll see it if you're away from the city lights.

The very thin crescent that was seen by binoculars last month became thicker as Venus approached its first quarter and its brightness increased, but its continuous distance from the Earth makes its apparent diameter lower, to continue its brightness until the peak on Monday, the seventh of February, before His light gradually dims.

Venus will shine brightest about 7 degrees above the east-southeast horizon at dawn, and you'll have no trouble locating it (even in urban areas).

The writer called for focusing on the small point that represents the planet Mars, which will remain 7 degrees south of Venus until mid-March. These two planets orbit in the constellation Sagittarius in February, and at the best star-gathering locations the Milky Way can be seen surrounding them as they rise.

You can start observing these planets more than 3 hours before the beginning of the day on Sunday, February 27. And if you make an effort to move to a location far enough away from artificial lighting, you'll see the galactic bulge appear slowly over the southeast horizon accompanied by the twinkling Antares.

on Monday, February 28, at dawn, about 40 minutes before sunrise; Mercury and a thin crescent appear at the east and southeast horizons, where the planet Saturn will also appear 3 degrees to the left of Mercury, but it will shine so faintly that it cannot be seen even if the sky is clear.

At this time of the month the crescent moon is still thick enough to be easily seen even if the daylight blurs its pale brightness. If you have a telescope, point it at the moon at 50 times magnification to see how the atmosphere covers the crescent moon very close to the horizon. And if you want to spot these objects as they rise, you should choose an observation site that allows you to see the real horizon, not from a hilltop.

February sky

In February, the constellation Orion will be visible over the southern horizon shortly after dusk. This constellation will be surrounded by a large group of stars. The glow of the Canis Major can be seen in the southern regions of the planetarium. In contrast to Sirius of the constellation Orion, the orange lantern of Aldebaran star of Taurus directs us in the direction of the small Pleiades constellation.

On the western side of the sky, there is still time to admire the square of the large constellation Pegasus and the constellation Andromeda. This is the location of the galaxy of the same name a few degrees away from Beta Andromeda, which can be seen with the naked eye in a clear sky like a small bunch of cottonwood.