{"id":2646,"date":"2020-02-13T23:06:19","date_gmt":"2020-02-13T23:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/?p=2646"},"modified":"2020-02-13T23:06:19","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T23:06:19","slug":"griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-february-20-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/2020\/02\/13\/griffith-observatory-sky-report-through-february-20-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Griffith Observatory Sky Report through February 20, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Click<\/strong><\/a>LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/2-13-2020_Sky_Report.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through February 20th<\/sup>, 2020. Here\u2019s what\u2019s happening in the skies of southern California.<\/p>\n

All of the planets that can be seen easily by the unaided eye may be spotted through the 20th<\/sup>. The two planets that are closer to the sun than the Earth, Mercury and Venus, can be seen starting about 30 minutes after sunset.<\/p>\n

At that time, Venus is the brightest object, gleaming above the west-southwest horizon. Mercury is much fainter and is above the western horizon, on a line between Venus and the brightest glow from the sun, to the lower right of Venus. Mercury will appear lower in the sky and fainter on successive evenings, and it may last be seen on the 20th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

A telescope is required for you to see the phases of Venus and Mercury. Venus now appears gibbous, and Mercury is crescent.<\/p>\n

The brightest outer planets, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, can best be seen together about 30 minutes before sunrise, at about 6:00 a.m. Jupiter then is the brightest object glowing above the southeast horizon. Red-tinted Mars is the first bright object you find to when you look to the upper right of Jupiter. Saturn is the object low in the sky to the lower left of Jupiter, and in line with Mars and Jupiter. The bright sparkling star to the right of Mars, and sharing the ruddy hue of Mars, is Antares in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion.<\/p>\n

The moon is last quarter on the 15th<\/sup>, and it is waning crescent on the following mornings. On the 16th<\/sup> the moon appears above Antares. On the 18th<\/sup>, it will pass directly in front of Mars and will block it from our view for about 52 minutes. This phenomenon is called an occultation of Mars.<\/p>\n

Binoculars will be a help in watching the occultation. It begins at 3:37 a.m., PST, only a few minutes after moonrise, and so an unobstructed view of the southeast horizon is essential in order to see the moment when the sunlit edge of the southern horn of the moon\u2019s crescent meets Mars. The moon will take about 15 seconds to cover Mars completely. The moon will be higher in the sky when Mars emerges from behind the dark limb of the moon. The moon will again take 15 seconds, this time to unveil Mars, at 4:29 a.m.<\/p>\n

Photogenic moon-planet pairings also happen on the next two mornings; the moon will pass above Jupiter on the 19th<\/sup> and Saturn on the 20th<\/sup>. Keep your smartphones and cameras handy!<\/p>\n

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\u2019s telescopes from Tuesday through Sunday, before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for the schedule. The next free public star party<\/a> on the grounds of Griffith Observatory, hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, will take place on Saturday, February 29th<\/sup>, between 2:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Follow The Sky Report<\/a>, All Space Considered<\/a>, and Griffith Observatory<\/a> on Twitter for updates on astronomy and space-related events.<\/p>\n

From Griffith Observatory, I\u2019m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LISTEN to this week\u2019s Sky Report http:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/2-13-2020_Sky_Report.mp3 This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through February 20th, 2020. Here\u2019s what\u2019s happening in the skies of southern California. All of the planets that can be seen easily by the unaided eye … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-skyreport"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2646"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2648,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646\/revisions\/2648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.griffithmedia.org\/skyreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}