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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through February 17th, 2016. Here’s what’s happening in the skies of southern California.
The waxing moon appears in the evening sky, and it changes phase from crescent to first quarter on the 14th. After that date the moon is waxing gibbous until it becomes full on the 22nd. The length of time that the moon can be seen increases by more than an hour from one night to the next. As a result of the lengthening period of the moon’s visibility, the time of moonset advances from 10:13 p.m. on the 10th to 2:36 a.m. on the 17th. Use a telescope to see the moon’s rugged Alpine Mountains while they are dramatically side-lit by the lunar sunrise on Monday, the 15th. The relatively fresh crater Tycho, a mere 100 million years old and thus hundreds of times younger than its neighboring craters, emerges into sunlight on Tuesday the 16th.
On the morning of Tuesday the 16th, the moon will move in front of, or occult, the bright orange star Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus the Bull. In southern California, binoculars or a telescope will help you see the sudden disappearance of the star behind the dark limb of the moon at 1:05 a.m., PST. The moon at that time will only be five degrees above the horizon and will set half an hour later, with Aldebaran still in occultation.
Jupiter, the second brightest planet and the second brightest object in the evening sky after the moon, is in the constellation Leo the Lion. Jupiter rises above the eastern horizon before 8:00 p.m. and crosses the southern meridian six hours later. Use a telescope to see Jupiter’s famous oval storm, the Great Red Spot, when it is visible to observers on the West Coast at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday the 11th and again at that time on Sunday the 14th.
The other four naked-eye planets rise after Jupiter. Orange Mars, in the constellation Libra the Scales, rises before 12:30 a.m. Golden Saturn, in the constellation Ophiuchus the Serpent Handler, appears two hours later. The brightest planet, Venus, clears the east-southeast horizon just as dawn starts, at 5:11 a.m. Mercury, the innermost planet, is less than five degrees to the lower left of Venus through the 17th and is the last to rise, at 5:28 a.m. Mercury is easiest to see during the brief period when it appears five degrees high or more in the sky and before the brightening sky overwhelms it, which happens about 30 minutes before sunrise. Look for Mercury and all of the other bright planets, between 5:57 a.m. and 6:10 a.m. From left to right, the planets appear on a line that extends 134 degrees from low in the east-southeast to high in the southwest. The planets are Mercury and Venus in the east-southeast, Saturn in the southeast, Mars in the south, and Jupiter in the west-southwest. The bright blue star Spica, in the constellation Virgo the Maiden, is located in the south-southwest between Mars and Jupiter, and orange Antares in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion appears below Saturn. This rare-line up of planets may be seen, with gradually increasing difficulty, through February 23 and is described and illustrated on our special web page.
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 from Tuesday through Sunday before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for the 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, weather permitting, between 2:00 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, February 13th.
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From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com