LISTEN to this week’s Sky Report
This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the week ending Wednesday, February 13, 2013. Here is what’s happening in the skies of Southern California:
Binoculars will help you to locate planet Mercury starting about 30 minutes after sunset this week. It is then located about 10 degrees above the west-southwest horizon. For comparison, 10 degrees is about the same angular size that your clenched fist covers when viewed at arm’s length. On the evenings of Thursday the 7th and Friday the 8th, binoculars can also show you Mars, which is hard to see against the twilight, but only ½ degree from brighter Mercury.
Jupiter continues to be the brightest planet of the evening. Located in Taurus the Bull, Jupiter appears nearly overhead in the southern sky when darkness falls. The planet sets in the west-northwest by 2 a.m. Jupiter is a featured object through Griffith Observatory’s public telescopes.
Saturn, in Libra the Scales, appears as a bright golden star in the southeast sky after it rises at midnight. The ringed planet is best seen at 5:20 a.m., when it is midway between the southern horizon and overhead.
The waning crescent moon may be seen during dawn until the 8th. The moon is new on Saturday, February 9th, and re-appears in waxing crescent phase after sunset on Monday the 11th.
A NASA rocket launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base is scheduled between 10:02 and 10:50 a.m., P.S.T. on Monday, February 11. From Los Angeles, the launch of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) aboard an Atlas V rocket may be visible as a small point of light rising from the western horizon and arcing south. Clear weather is necessary to see the launch, and binoculars are also recommended. Live status updates and coverage of the launch, are available on the Spaceflight Now webpage http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av035/status.html.
The brightest artificial satellite, the International Space Station, will make two evening passes over Los Angeles this week. The first, on Thursday, February 7, occurs between 7:05 and 7:09 p.m. During that time, the space station appears above the west-southwest horizon and disappears into earth’s shadow while 47 degrees high in the north-northwest. The following night, Friday the 8th, the ISS will appear between 6:14 and 6:20 p.m., moving across the sky from the southwest to the northeast, passing almost overhead at 6:18 p.m. The Space Station is expected to equal or exceed Jupiter in brilliance at both passes. Viewing information for other cities is available on the Heavens-Above satellite-observing Website www.heavens-above.com.
Free views of the sun during the day and of the moon, planets, and other celestial objects at night, are available to the public in clear weather through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes Wednesday-Sunday before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for our schedule. The next public star Party on the grounds of Griffith Observatory, hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, will take place between 2:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 16th.
From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.