Planet pairing The first day of the month starts off with a beautiful planet pairing in the eastern sky. Early in the morning the two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, rise together before the sun with a small waning crescent
Planet pairing
The first day of the month starts off with a beautiful planet pairing in the eastern sky.
Early in the morning the two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, rise together before the sun with a small waning crescent Moon in attendance.
The two planets have been drawing together over the past couple of weeks and on Feb. 1 are the closest together from our point of view. Venus is 338 million miles closer to us than Jupiter and much smaller (over 1,000 Venuses would fit inside Jupiter) yet it outshines the larger planet.
Venus’ thick blanket of sulfuric acid-laced clouds is highly reflective, and its closer proximity to the sun also contributes to the inner planet being over six and a half times brighter than Jupiter.
But Jupiter is still larger to the eye and its family of the four “Galilaen satellites” is fascinating with a small telescope or binoculars.
Jupiter actually has 62 known moons of varying sizes and distances from the planet, but the four largest are attributed to Galileo Galilei’s discovery almost 400 years ago.
Using a telescope not much stronger than toy store models of today, Galileo observed the orbits of the Jovian moons in 1610 and proved that the Earth was not the center of the universe, as it was widely believed in his time.
The two formidable planets will dominate the other points of light in the morning sky for the next few days of the month, rising a little after 5 a.m. during the first week.
But while they rise as a pair on the first day, Jupiter slowly begins to pull away from Venus as the brighter planet begins to move closer to the sunrise.
Venus is on its way to becoming an evening planet again, and the process will be a slow progression that will eventually bring Venus back to the night sky in mid-summer.
Being the most obvious lights in the night next to the Moon, Venus and Jupiter have references from almost every ancient civilization, however the names we know today come from their Roman designations.
Venus, whose counterpart is Aphrodite in Greek myth, is associated with love, beauty and fertility and in many other cultures it is seen as a strong and important symbol.
Because of the movement of the inner planet resulting in it being visible either as a morning or an evening “star,” many early cultures gave Venus two separate names.
While there are many other names in the Hawaiian language for this planet, Hokuao and Hokukauahiahi are two names given for Venus in the morning and evening, respectively.
Jupiter, second brightest planet and having the largest apparent diameter, also commands attention in the sky. Its mythological counterpart is Zeus, king of the Greek gods residing in the exclusive neighborhood on top of Mount Olympus.
Jupiter the planet spends about a year in each of the constellations of the zodiac, taking 12 years to circle the sun, and that fact may have contributed to the ancients associating it with a powerful name. The Hawaiians called this planet Ikaika, a name describing strength or power.
February eclipses
A solar and lunar eclipse happens in February, although we will only be able to catch the ending of the lunar eclipse. The solar eclipse starts on Feb. 6 at 5:20 p.m. HST, but will be only visible in the lower southern hemisphere-New Zealand, Southeast Australia and Antarctica.
The eclipse will be an annular type, where the Moon will not totally cover the diameter of the sun, but will leave a ring of sunlight around the disk of the Moon during height of the event.
Although the shadow will cover parts of the Pacific, we will not be able to see even a partial eclipse at our latitude.
The total lunar eclipse will be visible from Hawaii, but not under the best circumstances.
The Moon will already be out of the total phase of the eclipse when it rises at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 20.
However, the partial phase will last until around 7 p.m.
We will still be in twilight for most of that time period but if you are interested in seeing the lunar eclipse you should be in an area that you could see the Moon as it rises (facing east).
The planets
Earth:
February gains an extra day this year. Leap year is the result of astronomical time not quite aligning with our current calendar, based on the solar day.
We add the extra day every once in a while to compensate for the difference based on a complicated set of rules.
Mercury:
Look for great images to come from the Messenger spacecraft as NASA downloads the many images taken during the recent flyby in January.
Eventually Messenger will settle down into orbit around the tiny planet to complete its mission in 2011. See http://messenger.jhaupl.edu.
Otherwise, to see Mercury in the sky, look for it low in the east after the second half of the month before sunrise.
Venus:
Rising with Jupiter the first week of the month a little after 5 a.m., Venus will rise with Mercury by the end of the month, a half hour later.
Mars:
Mars is already high in the sky by the time darkness falls in February. It’s still relatively bright, although the first and second brightest stars in the sky already outshine it.
Sirius, in Canis Major is below Orion not far from the Red Planet, and Canopus sits low in the southern sky.
Mars is in the constellation of Taurus and close to Orion; both constellations contain red-orange stars that can be contrasted with the orange hue of Mars. This is also a good opportunity to see the difference between the glittery appearance of the stars Betelguese (in Orion’s shoulder) and Aldebaran (eye of Taurus) and the steadier glow of the planet.
Jupiter:
After their rendezvous in early February, Venus and Jupiter go their separate ways. While Venus rises later during the month, Jupiter rises earlier.
By the end of the month the largest planet rises an hour later, at 4 a.m. in the constellation Sagittarius.
Saturn:
Saturn rises at around 7:30 p.m. at the beginning of the month then is at opposition on Feb. 24, rising as the sun sets and remaining in the sky all night.
On the night of the lunar eclipse (Feb. 20) the Moon will be rising close to the ringed planet to offer a nice telescopic addition to your evening.
Moon phases
New Moon: Feb. 6
First Quarter: Feb. 13
Full Moon: Feb. 20
Third Quarter: Feb. 27
All dates are Hawai’i Standard time.
• Questions? Contact Carolyn Kaichi at hokupaa@bishopmuseum.org or 847-8203.
