by Con Stoitsis METEORSmostofthenightclearforobserving
in dark skies. The radiant, near the
‘Pointer’starAlphaCentauriofcourse,
is almost circumpolar at this time of
year, and is very well placed from late
evening onwards.■CON STOITSISis director of the
Astronomical Society of Victoria’s comet
and meteor sections. Follow him on
Twitter@vivstoitsisAlphapointstheway
Aneasy-to-seeshowerforFebruary.
A
greatwaytostart2019isto
catchtheAlphaCentaurids.This
shower can produce very bright
meteors,theoccasionalfireballand
persistenttrains(insomecaseslasting
forminutes),butnumbersareusually
low.In1974and1980,ratesashighas
30 meteors per hour were recorded, but
for2019thepredictedzenithalhourly
rate is anywhere between 6 and 25.
In previous years many observers have
reported bright meteors, and
half a dozen fireballs were
also reported in the days
beforeandafterpeak.The
average magnitude is 1.7, and
colours are mixed (although
yellowandorangeare
common). Alpha Centaurid
meteoroids enter the
atmosphere at a speed of 56
kilometres per second, which
makes them of medium
speedasthesethingsgo.
The Alpha Centaurids
areactivefromJanuary28
to February 21, with the
maximumthisyearfalling
on February 8. On this
date there will be a waxing
gibbous Moon, leavingFEBRUARY
1 Venus and Moon very close
2 Saturn6°southofMoon
10 Mars8°northofMoon
10 Uranus9°northofMoon
14 Uranus1°southofMars
14 Aldebaran1.5°southofMoon
17 Pollux7°northofMoon
18 Saturn1°southofVenus
19 Regulus3°southofMoon
26 Antares8°southofMoon
27 Mercury, greatest elong. (18° east)
27 Jupiter2°southofMoonSKY PHENOMENA LUNAR PHENOMENA
MARCH
2 Saturn 0.5° south of Moon
3 Venus1°northofMoon
10 Uranus4°northofMoon
11 Mars6°northofMoon
13 Aldebaran2°southofMoon
15 Mercuy at inferior conjunction
16 Pollus7°northofMoon
19 Regulus8°southofMoon
21 Equinox
22 Spica8°southofMoon
26 Antares9°southofMoon
27 Jupiter 5° south of Moon
29 Saturn 5° east of MoonFEBRUARY
NewMoon......4th,21.04UT
FirstQuarter......12th,22.26UT
Full Moon ...... 19th, 15.53 UT
Last Quarter ...... 26th, 11.28 UT
Apogee......5th,09hUT,406,555km
Perigee......19th,09hUT,356,761kmMARCH
NewMoon......6th,16.04UT
FirstQuarter......14th,10.27UT
Full Moon ...... 21st, 01.43 UT
LastQuarter......28th,04.10UT
Apogee......4th,11hUT,406,391km
Perigee......19,20hUT,359,377kmhttp://www.skyandtelescope.com.au 47if you can give them a view through
binoculars (can they spot the Galilean
moons?) or a telescope (cloud bands
anyone?). And the viewing will only
get better for the King of the Planets
as the months pass, and it is heading
toward opposition on June 11. In the
meantime, take a look for the Moon
nearby on February 28 and March 27.
Saturn (0.6, 15.5 ̋), heading for
opposition on July 10, begins February
low in the east as the dawn glow begins
to make its presence felt. The Ringed
Planet will rise earlier each morning
as the weeks pass, until it does so at
around midnight by the end of March
(depending upon your daylight savings
status). As mentioned above, Saturn
and Venus will be close together from
February 17 to 20. And look for the
Moon close by on February 2–3 and
March 2. The telescopic view will reveal
the magnificence of the planet’s rings,
35 ̋ wide and tilted at 24 degrees.
Our planet will reach the (southern)
autumnal equinox on March 21. On
this day, the hours of daylight and
night-time are effectively equal, and
that means we’re officially heading
towards winter and longer, darker
nights for stargazing.
Looking further ahead to April, we
can expect better viewing conditions
for Mercury (as noted above), a lunar
occultation of Saturn (with several
more to come later in the year) and lots
of conjunctions between planets and
the Moon.