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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the week ending Wednesday, February 8, 2012. Here is what’s happening in the skies of Southern California:
The bright moon dominates the night sky for increasing amounts of time this week. Its phase waxes, changing from gibbous to full on Tuesday the 7th, then appears in waning gibbous phase the next night. The traditional name for the February full moon, based on that from the Algonquin Indians is the “Snow Moon”.
Venus and Jupiter are the brilliant objects that can be seen at the same time by looking southwest shortly after sunset. Venus, the lower object, is the brightest planet. It appears white and sets in the west at about 8:40 p.m.
Planet Jupiter, in Aries the Ram, has a cream-yellow hue and is accompanied by four large moons bright enough to see through binoculars. A telescope will reveal the stripes of bright zones and dark belts of clouds covering the planet. A shadow of the moon Io will be visible on the face of Jupiter at sunset on Sunday, February 5. The shadow transit will end at 5:40 p.m. Jupiter sets in the west-northwest at 11:30 p.m.
Mars moves from Virgo the Maiden to Leo the Lion on the 3rd. It is noticeable in the east by 9:00 p.m., shining with an orange hue. The planet continues to grow in brightness and telescopic size this week and appears about 13 arcseconds across. Because the close approach of Mars to the earth a month from now is about the most distant possible, it is best to make telescopic observations of the planet within a couple of hours of its transit, or the time that it is highest in the sky, which this week moves from 2:40 to 2:12 a.m. The north polar cap is easiest to see. This week, Syrtis Major, Mare Tyrrhenium, Thoth, and Utopia are the dark features that face Los Angeles during prime observing time.
Planet Saturn can be found 7 degrees to the left of equally bright Spica, the brightest star of Virgo the Maiden, in early morning sky. The pair move from the southeast, where they are easy to see by midnight, to the south where they appear midway between the horizon and zenith before dawn.
The International Space Station makes two early morning passes over Los Angeles this week. The first pass, on Friday, February 3, starts at 5:44 a.m., P.S.T., when the satellite emerges from earth’s shadow while 19 degrees high in the northwest. It ends at 5:50 a.m., when it nears the southeast horizon. The brilliant object is highest at 5:46 a.m., when it is 60 degrees high in the northeast. The next favorable passage is on Sunday, February 5. The ISS will emerge from shadow 47 degrees high in the west at 5:28 a.m., P.S.T. It is highest – 56 degrees above the southwest horizon – at 5:29 a.m., and approaches the south-southeast horizon at 5:32 a.m.
Free public viewing of the sun during the day and of the moon, planets and other celestial objects at night, is available in clear weather, Wednesday through Sunday, through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes before 9:45 p.m. Check our website for our schedule. The next public star party of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society and the Sidewalk Astronomers is scheduled for Saturday, February 25.
The Sky Report is updated every Wednesday. It may be read and heard on our website, and is found by following the Sky Information links. From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.