Astronomy - February 2014

10"

S

W E

N

Venus

Mars

Mercury

Ceres

Uranus

Saturn

Neptune Pluto

Jupiter

40 ASTRONOMY t FEBRUARY 2014

PAT HOF THE

PLANETS

The planets

in the sky

These illustrations show the size, phase, and orientation of each planet and the two brightest dwarf planets

for the dates in the data table at bottom. South is at the top to match the view through a telescope.

The planets in February 2014

Planets MERCURY VENUS MARS CERES JUPITER SATURN URANUS NEPTUNE PLUTO

Date Feb. 1 Fe b. 15 Fe b. 15 Fe b. 15 Fe b. 15 Fe b. 15 Fe b. 15 Fe b. 15 Fe b. 15

Magnitude –0.6 –4.9 – 0.1 8.0 –2. 5 0.5 5.9 8.0 14. 2

Angular size 7.1" 40.6" 10.1" 0.7" 44.2" 17. 0 " 3.4" 2.2" 0.1"

Illumination 51% 26% 93% 97% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Distance (AU) from Earth 0.944 0. 411 0.926 2.029 4.465 9.788 20.732 30.954 33.307

Distance (AU) from Sun 0. 310 0.719 1.657 2.595 5.209 9.891 20.031 29.978 32.598

Right ascension (2000.0) 22h08.5m 19h10.5m 13h40.7m 14h13.7m 6h47.3m 15h24.5m 0h37.1m 2 2h26.5m 18h53.4m

Declination (2000.0) –11° 01' –16° 27 ' –7°34' 0°07' 2 3°12' –16°16' 3 °17 ' –10 ° 29 ' –20°10'