Mercury is beginning an evening apparition this week. Look directly above the sunset for a starlike object shining at -1.2 magnitude. The planet will be over 10° from the Sun today, rising a little further each day until maximum elongation on March 5th.
Category: Sky Events
Sky events
The Moon and Saturn
Saturn will be about 7.5° from the Moon when they rise tonight. A 73% illuminated Moon will rise about 22:28, followed by Saturn at 22:58HST. The Moon will also be quite close to the bright star Spica, less than two degrees away from the 1st magnitude star.
Venus and Uranus
This evening Venus and Uranus are very close, with the pair separated by a mere 19 arc-minutes, about 1/5th of a degree and well within the same medium power telescopic field. This a is chance to find the ice-giant with relatively little effort, there will be no nearby bright stars to confuse with the 5.9 magnitude Uranus. At high magnification both planets will be seen as disks, Venus 16 arc-seconds across, and Uranus a bit over 3 arc-seconds across. Venus is now far enough between the Earth and the Sun to become somewhat gibbous, being about 70% illuminated.
The Moon and Mars
Tonight a nearly full Moon will rise together with the planet Mars. The pair will rise about 20:28 and will be about 9° apart.
Mars is approaching opposition, as the Earth draws closer to the red planet it is getting larger and brighter in our sky. It is now over 12 arc-seconds in diameter and shining at -0.8 magnitude. Opposition will occur March 3rd.
Full Moon
Venus and Uranus
Over the next few night Venus will pass very close to Uranus. The pair will be close for about five days, around 2° or less from the 7th to the 11th. It is on the 9th that the closest approach will occur with the pair separated by a mere 19 arc-minutes, about 1/5th of a degree and well within the same medium power telescopic field. This a is chance to find the ice-giant with relatively little effort, there will be no nearby bright stars to confuse with the 5.9 magnitude Uranus. At high magnification both planets will be seen as disks, Venus 16 arc-seconds across, and Uranus a bit over 3 arc-seconds across. Venus is now far enough between the Earth and the Sun to become somewhat gibbous, being about 70% illuminated.
Mercury at Superior Conjunction
Today Mercury passes through superior conjunction, passing behind the Sun as seen from the Earth. It will appear in the sunset later in the month, reaching maximum elongation on March 4th.
Mars Opposition 2012
About a month from today, on March 3rd, the planet Mars will pass through opposition.
Mars orbits the Sun every 1.88 years, with Earth only taking one year for each orbit. Like two runners on a track the two planets race each other around the Sun. But we have the inside lane, lapping the red planet every two years. These events are called opposition, when Mars is closest to us and best positioned for viewing by earthbound telescopes.
Closest approach of the two planets is not necessarily on the same day as opposition, but can vary up to two weeks. This year closest approach will occur March 5th with the two planets approaching to 99,331,411 km (61,721,554 miles) at 07:01HST.1 At this distance the red planet will show a disk 13.89″ arc-seconds across in the eyepiece.2
Mars during the 2005 opposition
Do not worry about viewing on the 3rd or 5th, any time in the month leading up to and after opposition the viewing will be very good. With even a modest telescope it should be possible to see the bright polar caps and light and dark markings on the planet.
All month Mars will be visible throughout the night, high in the sky at midnight. This is the time to enjoy observing our closest neighboring planet while it is nearby and high in the night sky.
1) 2012 Mars Opposition at SEDS
2) The 2012 Aphelic Apparition of Mars
Neptune Slides Into the Sunset
The first week of February will see Neptune slide into the sunset. The planet will pass through superior conjunction on February 19th to re-appear in the dawn during first weeks of March.
The Moon and Pleiades
Tonight a bright gibbous Moon will be just under 5° from the Pleiades star cluster. The Moon will be 62% illuminated, bright, but the cluster is bright enough to be seen even against a bright Moon. As the Pleiades move to the west over coming months there will be a few more lunar conjunctions, with increasingly smaller crescents.