By Pat Beers Block
Welcome Star Gazers to this month’s highlights of celestial events visible in Fluvanna County!
Fun events to view in February
This month offers star gazers some much needed rest from peering into the depths of the night sky with kinked neck and strained eyes. The primary events this month might be considered mundane- if any celestial event can ever truly be categorized as such- and include the faithful phasing of the moon, several interesting planetary and star occultations (overshadowing of one celestial body over another) and conjunctions (remote objects visually appearing close to one another), and the clockwork of the stars and planets circling the sky. There are no major meteor showers to track or eclipses to observe. But there are a fair number of planetary/star conjunctions , and the moon will be a key player this month, with its interludes with various planets and stars. Hopefully these events capture your interest and motivate you to set up your sky gazing equipment and spend time observing the night and early morning dark sky.
Let’s get ready to engage in observing these events by setting up your star gazing equipment, charging your cell phones and linking to Sky Guide, Sky View Lite, or any other star gazing applications that you find useful, and settling into your favorite viewing spot to witness the magic of the night and early morning skies!
Weeks 1-2 (February 1-8)
February 1 is a good evening to view the planet Venus in conjunction with the waxing (getting larger) crescent moon. Venus will be a bright light you will find in the early evening sky.
On the morning of February 6, the moon will be in its first quarter and in occultation (appears to pass behind) with the Pleiades star cluster (aka the 7 Sisters, and Messier 45) that is found within the Taurus constellation. Remember, when the moon enters its first quarter phase, the Earth experiences neap tides. The moon will appear to be a “half-moon” with the right side of the moon illuminated with light.
Week 3 (February 9-15)
On the night of February 9, the waxing gibbous moon will be in conjunction with Mars. On February 10, the moon will be in conjunction with the stars Castor, and Pollux in the constellation Gemini. On February 11, the moon will be in conjunction with the Beehive star cluster (aka Messier 44) located within the constellation Cancer.
The full moon appears on February 12 and has the colloquial name of the Snow Moon, so named by Native Americans because of the presence of snow on the ground during this month. It has also been referred to as the Hungry moon due to limited food resources, and Bear Moon with the birthing of bear cubs at this time of year. Celtic and Old English names for the February moon also included Snow moon, as well as Ice moon, and Storm moon.
The moon on February 12 will also be in conjunction with the star Regulus of the constellation Leo.
Week 4 (February 16-22)
The moon will be in conjunction with the star Spica within the constellation Virgo on the morning of February 17.
The moon moves into its last quarter phase on February 20. The moon will be illuminated on the left half of its surface.
Week 5 (February 23-28)
To end the month of February, the moon will complete its lunar cycle on February 27 and move to its new moon phase at which time the moon will no longer be visible except as a ghost-like sphere in the sky.
In Summary…
So ends the celestial highlights of February. But before ending this month’s star gazing report, let’s look back to the strange asteroid that NASA observed last August named Asteroid 2024 PT5 that briefly circled the Earth and acted much like a mini-moon for a few months. NASA recently discovered that Asteroid 2024 PT5 is in fact a rock that had broken from the moon’s surface after a large impact on the moon hurdled this rock into space. Minerals in this asteroid are of the same composition as those in moon rocks; and using some pretty awesome scientific methods, Asteroid 2024 PT5 was found to be following our moon’s orbit. For more information about this asteroid, visit NASA’s website https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/study-finds-earths-small-asteroid-visitor-likely-chunk-of-moon-rock/?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1-nasajpl&utm_content=weekly20250124
Also worth exploring throughout the month are celestial stories available through NASA’s web posts, and websites that provide information about space rocket and satellite launches, the ISS, and events like the aurora borealis that might be visible in the Fluvanna area.
With the perpetual motion of planets and stars, the daily changing sky promises to entertain you for a lifetime! Until next month, keep your eyes facing the morning and evening sky to see the wonders of our universe as we Earthlings travel through it!
[information has been extracted from Astronomy Calendar of Celestial Events 2025 – Sea and Sky (seasky.org); https://eclispe.gsfc.nasa.gov; https://highpointscientific.com/astronomy-hub; https://amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers; and Wikipedia]
