Venus grows higher and brighter, now remaining up for
three hours after sunset. Mars steadily fades while
crossing into Aries. Saturn remains glorious, standing
high up at nightfall and reaching its nightly apex nearly
overhead around 9:00 p.m. Jupiter rises at 7:00 p.m. at
midmonth and remains prominent all night, joined loosely
by the Moon on the 7th and 8th. The Moon also serves as
guide and companion to Venus on the 23rd, Mars on the
25th, and Saturn on the 29th. By month's end, daylight
increases by three to four minutes a day in most of the
United States and four to five minutes a day in Canada.
The year's most outstanding array of stars, centered in
Orion, now float optimally high soon after nightfall.
Moon phase times are based on Eastern Time.
Full Moon: 6th day, 3rd hour, 47th minute
Last Quarter:13th day, 8th hour, 40th minute
New Moon: 20th day, 4th hour, 18th minute
First Quarter: 27th day, 22nd hour, 24th minute
Full Moon
The full Moon of
February
is called the
Snow Moon.
Planet Viewing
in 2004
Mercury
Named for the Roman messenger god, who flew from Olympus
on winged heels, this little planet flits back and forth
from morning sky to evening sky several times a year.
Unfortunately, it never strays far from the Sun in our
sky, so it's tough to find in the glare. From the
northern hemisphere, the best times to see it in the
morning this year come in early September and late
December, when it looks like a moderately bright star low
in the southeast shortly before dawn. In the evening,
Mercury is best seen around the end of March.
Venus
Venus, the dazzling morning or evening star, outshines
all the other stars and planets in the night sky. It's
the brilliant "evening star" from the beginning
of the year until early June. It then disappears in the
Sun's glare for a few days, but emerges by mid-month as
the "morning star." It flirts with Mars in
April and early May, then stages a spectacular pairing
with Jupiter in the morning sky in early November.
Mars
After last year's spectacular appearance in the summer
and autumn sky, Mars is a much less commanding presence
this year. As 2004 begins, it appears high overhead at
nightfall, and looks like a bright yellow-orange star. It
drops lower in the sky during the winter and spring,
losing a bit of brightness as it does so, then passes
behind the Sun in September. It reemerges in the pre-dawn
sky by around Halloween. It stages a beautiful encounter
with Venus in the western evening sky in April and early
May, and passes just a couple of degrees from Saturn in
late May.
Jupiter
The largest planet in our solar system is a commanding
presence in the night sky for much of the year. It looks
like an intensely bright cream-colored star, shining
brighter than anything else in the night sky except the
Moon and Venus. It's at "opposition" in early
March, when it appears brightest for the year, and
remains visible all night. It will disappear
"behind" the Sun in September, then return to
view before dawn by the middle of October. Jupiter and
Venus pair up in the early morning sky the first few days
of November.
Saturn
Saturn looks like a golden star. It spends the entire
year in Gemini, although it flirts with the border to
Cancer in the fall before reversing direction and moving
back toward the center of Gemini. It's brightest at the
beginning and end of the year, when it's closest to us.
Uranus &
Neptune
Although it's the third-largest planet in the solar
system, it's so far from the Sun that you need binoculars
to see it. It spends the year in the constellation
Aquarius. It stages its best appearance in August. The
fourth-largest planet in the solar system is so far away
that you need a telescope to find it. Neptune appears in
the constellation Capricornus, and stages its best
appearance in summer.
Pluto
The solar system's smallest and most distant planet is
never visible without the aid of a good-sized telescope.
It's in the constellation Ophiuchus.
Moonrise from
Earth:
The moon rises and sets every day, appearing on
the horizon just like the sun. The time depends on the
phase of the moon. It rises about 30 to 70 minutes later
each day than the previous day, so the moon is out during
daytime as often is it's out at night. At the time of the
new moon, the moon rises at about the same time the sun
rises, and it sets at about the same time the sun sets.
As the days go by (as it waxes to become a crescent moon,
a half moon, and a gibbous moon, on the way to a full
moon), the moon rises during daytime (after the sun
rises), rising later each day, and it sets at nighttime,
setting later and later each night. At the full moon, the
times of moonrise and moonset have advanced so that the
moon rises about the same time the sun sets, and the moon
sets at about the same time the sun rises. As the moon
wanes (becoming a half moon and a crescent moon, on the
way to a new moon), the moon rises during the night,
after sunset, rising later each night. It then sets in
the daytime, after the sun rises. Eventually, the moon
rises so late at night that it's actually rising around
sunrise, and it's setting around sunset. That's when it's
a new moon once again.
coming soon to Sun
Books!
Understanding
Sun Sign Astrology
Plain and Simple
by Donette Smock
The Sun News
Online Editor
details coming soon
any questions
you would like answered about the night sky in the next
column
