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| This web site is a joint venture of the
Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium and
Vermont Public Radio with support from the Partnership
for a Nation of Learners, a Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Institute of Museum and Library
Services leadership initiative. |
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February Skies 2010
February’s skies are strewn with the winter’s finest – Orion high in the south, flanked by Taurus the Bull on the right and his hunting dogs on the left. Gemini rides high above, and the Big Dipper creeps a little higher in the northeast with each passing evening, taking on the form of a question mark by the end of the month. Mars remains bright, though its location above Orion and left of Gemini gives it plenty of competition. Jupiter sinks into the Sun’s glare, while Saturn rises a little earlier each evening, rising before 8 by the end of the month.
8 – Due south this evening at 9:15 PM EST is the brightest star in the sky, Sirius, the “nose” of Canis Major, the Great Dog. Sirius comes from the Arabic word meaning “blazing one”.
9 – The "twin" stars of Gemini ride very high across the southern skies. Pollux, a bit brighter and on the left, and Castor, on the right, are named for the sons of the Greek god Zeus and his mortal lover, Leda. Their sister was the famous Helen of Troy.
10 – The moonless evening skies should give a fine view of the faint star cluster, the Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters. Using Orion, due south at 8:00 PM, follow his belt stars to the right, past the red star in Taurus, to a “smudge” of stars, known in mythology as the daughters of Neptune.
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