Scruton Sky at Night – February 2024

by Graham Dodds

Websites recommendations – go to www.darkskiesnationalparks.org.uk (look for North York Moors & Yorkshire Dales) to find out about ‘Star Parties’ held this month by the York Astronomical Soc. & Reeth Astronomy Group. For advance notice of Aurora Borealis sightings, go to www.aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk

Constellations – Orion moves westward during February, with Leo (the Lion) & Boötes (the Herdsman) rising early in the east, both harbingers of Spring. Still, with Orion being significant in the night sky, note the ‘asterism’ of the three stars that make up its ‘belt’, the so called Three Kings or Sisters: Alnilam (east) Alnitak (centre) and Mintaka (west), a binary star, with a x90,000 luminosity compared to our Sun.

Planets – Jupiter remains king, seen southward mostly, and high up, the brightest planetary object. Venus, at the beginning of the month, on the 7th, finds itself low in the SE before dawn next to a waning crescent moon 🌘

The Moon – A new moon on the 9th, with a waxing crescent moon 🌒 near to Jupiter, on the 14th-15th, and a full moon on the 24th. The last quarter moon 🌗 falls on the 3rd March. – Enjoy!