Bright Stars of Northeastern Sky
Once the evening sun has set and the stars become visible it is evident to the observer that there are numerous bright stars in the southeastern sky at the beginning of February.
This time of year we are looking away from the centre of the Milky Way galaxy at night, so we do not see the multitudes of stars that we do in late summertime. Some of the bright stars of the winter constellations are relatively nearby and others are much larger than our sun. Since these stars are so prominent in the winter sky they are referred to as “The Winter Eight” or the celestial “G” asterism.
To find this pattern you must follow these stars in this order. A basic star map will be very useful. Start high in the sky with the yellow star Capella. Capella, the brightest star in the pentagon shaped constellation of Auriga, is fairly close at a distance of 45 light years.
Proceed to the stars Castor and Pollux. These are white stars of similar brightness in Gemini the Twins. Castor is a system comprised of six stars 45 light years away. A telescope at around 100x magnification will resolve three stars of this sextuple system.
The next star Procyon is in the constellation of Canis Minor just below Gemini. Procyon is closer to us at 11.4 light years.
Blue-white Sirius, in the constellation Canis Major, can easily be identified being the brightest star in the night sky. At a distance of only 8.6 light years it shines at a visual magnitude of -1.44.
The next star of “The Winter Eight” is Rigel, marking the left foot of Orion. This star is a true white hot supergiant lying at 800 light years distant. We see Rigel as a star of magnitude 0.18 from Earth meaning that this star is actually 57,000 times brighter than our sun!
Move on to the orange-yellow giant star Aldebaran. This star marks the eye of the Bull amongst the “V” shape of stars (the Hyades) in the constellation of Taurus. Aldebaran is 65 light years away and shines at a magnitude of 0.87.
Finally back to Orion to the red supergiant star of Betelgeuse. This star marks the right shoulder of Orion the Hunter as he holds his club high in his right hand. His left hand holds a shield facing the head of Taurus the Bull. Betelgeuse is a pulsating red supergiant star 520 light years from earth. If Betelgeuse was located where our sun is its surface would lie between the planets Mars and Jupiter. Betelgeuse shines at a magnitude of 0.45 and appears a definite reddish-orange in colour.
A half hour after sunset Venus can be seen dominating the western sky with its brilliant white glow. As the weeks go by Venus will be seen higher in the sky after the sun goes down.
Elusive Mercury will be visible the first week of February. It will be found below and to the right of Venus, low near the western horizon an hour after sunset.
Saturn reaches opposition on February 10. Even though Saturn rises in the east shortly
after sunset, the best time to view the planet with a telescope will be around
Jupiter resides in the southerly constellation Ophiuchus, therefore, will remain quite low to the horizon for northern hemisphere observers. We will have to wait until the few weeks around opposition (June 5) for good views of the Giant Planet.
On February 2 the full moon will be just below Saturn. The waning crescent moon will be seen just below Jupiter before sunrise on February 12. A slender waxing crescent moon will be seen just above Venus on February 19. The first quarter moon will be seen grazing just north of the Pleiades star cluster (M45) once darkness falls on February 23.
Clear Skies
Ted Bronson