Items Featured In TGP NOMINAL Xtra - February Skies 2020
ROSS HOCKHAM'S February SKY GUIDE:
Many of you will know, there is a celebration in February.
Unfortunately, Valentine's Day has kind of lost its original meaning in modern times.
The holiday has its origins in a Roman festival, held in mid-February.
The festival celebrated the coming of spring, included fertility rites and the pairing off of women with men by a lottery…..
Now we put Car Keys in a bowl ;-)
Lucky for some maybe not others
It then became a day for admirers to send secret messages to their loved one, but with the first valentines cards being produced in the 1800’s this quickly turned into buy this for your loved one, take your loved one here…
A loved one now being spread to friends, parents, dogs, cats… guinea pigs….. its getting out of hand.
So I am going to go back to the real meaning and help those out there find some romance in the skies,
that are up this month!
Now the obvious place to start for an Astronomer is the story of Perseus and Andromeda,
as this is a well-known story of love and also vanity, perhaps both of which you might find around Valentine’s Day.
To start this story, look right up into the Sky above you and high up you’ll see a sort of sideways W of bright stars, that’s Cassiopeia who was a hugely vain Queen.
She’s so vain she boasted that her daughter Andromeda who is sat to her right in the sky,
was the most beautiful creature in the world maybe our ancestors could see the fuzz of the large galaxy there by eye.
She even said she was more beautiful than the Sea Nymphs of Poseidon.
Who is known by the Romans as Neptune (who the planet is named after).
On hearing this Poseidon was so angry, he kidnapped Andromeda and tied her to the seafloor,
where the sea monster Cetus known as the Kraken by Romans (It's also a nice Rum, drink responsibly),
was going to devour her.
Cetus is low in the sky below Perseus and is not a bright constellation,
It is often depicted as coming up towards Andromeda and Perseus, kind of like the Jaws movie posters.
It is often depicted as coming up towards Andromeda and Perseus, kind of like the Jaws movie posters.
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But lucky for them all, Perseus the hero, who is just below Cassiopeia, came down flying on Pegasus (a winged Horse) which is attached to Andromeda sitting below her in the sky. He had just come from slaying Medusa which was another vain lady turned into a monster by her vanity with snakes in her hair that turned people to stone with her gaze. On hearing the plight of the kingdom he flew down, pulled out her head showed it to Cetus which was a creature that could not be killed by Mortal weapons, turning it into stone and saving everybody. |
The king, Cepheus who sits on the opposite side of Cassiopeia to Perseus gave Andromeda away to marry Perseus living….. well… not so happily ever after.
As the story goes on that Perseus kills the king over a drunken argument not long after.
Now I have pointed out all the constellations from this ancient legend,
I can show you what actually connects the story t Valentine's Day.
If you have a very dark sky, In between Cassiopeia and Perseus,
are the Heart and Soul Nebula's you most likely wont see them by eye but may get them on camera.
Especially if you’re a bit of an Astro-Photographer.
one of them is actually in the shape of an upside down heart.
Along side the Heart and Soul Nebula's there is a really nice double cluster of stars,
looking really pretty and really bright blue.
There is isn't anything romantic connected to them but they do look stunning!
Moving up to Cassiopeia, she is littered with clusters because she is slap bang in the middle of the Milky way.
If you carry on in a line up and over across the sky you will be looking at an arm of the Milky Way, Our Galaxy,
and you will be able to share billions of stars twinkling in sky like diamonds with your Loved One.
I can show you what actually connects the story t Valentine's Day.
If you have a very dark sky, In between Cassiopeia and Perseus,
are the Heart and Soul Nebula's you most likely wont see them by eye but may get them on camera.
Especially if you’re a bit of an Astro-Photographer.
one of them is actually in the shape of an upside down heart.
Along side the Heart and Soul Nebula's there is a really nice double cluster of stars,
looking really pretty and really bright blue.
There is isn't anything romantic connected to them but they do look stunning!
Moving up to Cassiopeia, she is littered with clusters because she is slap bang in the middle of the Milky way.
If you carry on in a line up and over across the sky you will be looking at an arm of the Milky Way, Our Galaxy,
and you will be able to share billions of stars twinkling in sky like diamonds with your Loved One.
As you go through Cepheus the king, stop!
Look to his right and find the Star Polaris (The North or Pole Star)
With binoculars or a scope look at the star.
If you look for a moment you will see a ring of stars, including Polaris, this is an Asterism* known as The Engagement Ring.
A ring of stars with Polaris being the diamond shining brightest.
Great for those wishing to pop the question….. ahhh. Your welcome!
So take your loved one out, IF the skies are clear, instead of buying roses and chocolates, why not give them the experience of looking up at billions of stars, countless stories, watch the sunset and don’t forget the Goddess of beauty Venus will be shining high and bright most of the month in the evening.
*An Asterism is a group of stars that are smaller than a constellation
So let's move on to The Month Ahead,
Look to his right and find the Star Polaris (The North or Pole Star)
With binoculars or a scope look at the star.
If you look for a moment you will see a ring of stars, including Polaris, this is an Asterism* known as The Engagement Ring.
A ring of stars with Polaris being the diamond shining brightest.
Great for those wishing to pop the question….. ahhh. Your welcome!
So take your loved one out, IF the skies are clear, instead of buying roses and chocolates, why not give them the experience of looking up at billions of stars, countless stories, watch the sunset and don’t forget the Goddess of beauty Venus will be shining high and bright most of the month in the evening.
*An Asterism is a group of stars that are smaller than a constellation
So let's move on to The Month Ahead,
On the 1st, is a new one for me but just above right of the huge crater Tycho is a crater called Albategnius.
As the sun light hits it tonight it looks like a face, see if you can spot it. MoonglobeHD is a good app for locating it.
As the sun light hits it tonight it looks like a face, see if you can spot it. MoonglobeHD is a good app for locating it.
On the 2nd there is another cool effect on the Moon. Tonight, find the larger crater Plato,
at the top of the Mare Imbrium, a large flat plain.
The shadow creates a hook shape in the crater.
I've not seen it yet myself, so something else to see.
at the top of the Mare Imbrium, a large flat plain.
The shadow creates a hook shape in the crater.
I've not seen it yet myself, so something else to see.
On the 4th, The Moon is not far from the Hyades, the 'V' shaped cluster that is the Bulls Head of the constellation Taurus.
Again, look at the top of the Mare Imbrium to see the jewelled handle,
an effect that the light glints off the tips of the Jura Mountains.
On the 5th, If you found the jewelled handle before, look at it again to find the Moon Maiden sitting at the end of the range. Reflector Scopes flip it up, so she is not upside down.
9th Full Moon is close to perigee making it look bigger in the sky known as a "SuperMoon"
It isn’t really Super just looks cool as its rises the star close to it is Regulus known as the Regal star.
On the 21st, If you have been following the comet C/2017 T2 Panstarrs (mentioned in last month's guide).
It's not far from the Muscleman Cluster NGC 743 in Cassiopeia.
Grab a pair of binoculars and look around the constellation see if you can spot a fuzz.
And finally, on the night of the 27th and 28th, the crescent Moon will not be far from the planet Venus.
Great for a picture.
And that is the Month sorted…
Great for a picture.
And that is the Month sorted…