NIGHT SKY THIS WEEK FEBRUARY 25 - 3 MARCH 2019.

The Night Sky This Week!  February 25-3 March 2019.

Even with sunny days, the last week was covered with clouds come nightfall.
There were some gaps that revealed a constellation or recognizable part thereof.
Maybe this week will bring better luck, so let's take a brief look at what to expect and to target for observation.
All images courtesy SkySafari 6 Pro, a link to the webpage is in the right column of this blog under "Useful links".

THE MOON AND PLANETS.

The Moon has a busy week!
It is at last quarter and once again excellent for viewing the terminator with your binoculars or scope. And it rises after 11PM giving you plenty of time to get some serious scope time in before ruining your night vision on the Moon.
The Moon will also be in conjunction with Jupiter, Saturn and Venus, not all once mind you! The Moon will entertain each on separate evenings starting with Jupiter on Wednesday evening. With the two passing within 2°17' of each other.
From Durban and Southern Africa they will be visible in the early morning eastern sky and be visible until dawn breaks. They will be too wide to fit a telescope FOV(Field Of View) but should be a treat in binoculars or the naked eye.
Then on Friday the Moon and Saturn will pass within 0°18' of each other. The two should be visible shortly before 2AM and be visible until dawn breaks. This conjunction can be viewed in the scope, binoculars and naked eye. Look for them in your early morning eastern skies.
Then on Saturday night the Moon and Venus do the final dance, passing within 1°11' of each other. This will best be seen through binoculars or naked eye since they are too far apart for a telescope FOV. And again look toward your early morning eastern skies to see the two, from about 02H40 until dawn breaks.
As an added bonus the Venus Moon conjunction will have four planets easily visible naked eye along the ecliptic.

DEEP SKY OBSERVING (DSO).

With the Moon rising shortly after 11PM on Monday and half an later each night thereafter, it gives us some time to pursue a few DSO.

Let's visit two more Globular clusters(GC), soon we will be looking back to the galactic center and be in for a treat with globular clusters that litter the night skies!
So, let us turn our attention toward the constellation Musca(The Fly) and it's two GC.
NGC 4833 and NGC 4372.

NGC 4833, Globular cluster in Musca, Magnitude +7.23.

This can be a tough find with smaller scopes or a lot of light pollution. Some nights my 8" scope and  backyard will easily reveal these two clusters or not, depending on conditions.
This is a easy star hop from the star Gamma Muscae a 3rd magnitude star. Even in my horrible light pollution this star is a naked eye star and easy to get in the finder.
This cluster was first catalogued by James Dunlop on 30 April 1826.

NGC 4833, Globular cluster in Musca, magnitude +6.90.

Another easy star hop from the 3rd magnitude star Delta Muscae.
I find both clusters to have a low surface brightness and they do not cope well with light pollution using my 8" Dob. From darker skies they are much nicer to view.
This cluster was first discovered by Abbe Lacaille during is 1751-1752 visit to South Africa. It was also later catalogued by Sir John Herschel and James Dunlop.

Both clusters are partially obscured by galactic dust and this makes them visually challenging.

The ISS makes no visible passes over Southern Africa this week, we will need to wait for the week following to resume sightings.

Have a fantastic week and if clear skies present themselves then get out there and look up!

NIGHT SKY THIS WEEK, 18-24 FEBRUARY 2019.

Night Sky This Week for 18-24 February 2019.

Another week gone by and still no clear skies in my neck of the woods!
I have pretty much missed out on comet Iwamoto as it quickly fades from view, especially with the full Moon that is fast approaching.
Ah well, it is what it is and we now look toward a new week and what to expect in the night sky.
All images courtesy of SkySafari 6 Pro.

MOON AND PLANETS.

The Moon will take center stage this week as it reaches full phase, it will also be making it's closest approach to the Earth known as a Perigee.
Mars is still a early evening object and is fast fading from view, you will need to catch this one early as it sets by 21H30 here in the South. Remember to also take a look at nearby Uranus, the two should be visible in the same field of view with binoculars.
Venus and Jupiter continue to dominate our early morning skies with Jupiter rising shortly after midnight with Saturn following along shortly after 2AM.

Venus and Saturn will pass within 1°05' of each other on Monday the 18th, they will also be at conjunction.
The pair will not fit in a scope field of view but easily visible in binoculars or the naked eye.

DEEP SKY OBSERVING(DSO).

Since we will be doing battle with the full Moon, let's take a look at some more open clusters since they do better under the glare of the Moon.

NGC 3532,  C91. Open cluster in Carina. Magnitude +3.00

This cluster in the constellation Carina is a must see for all Southern hemisphere observers, it's overall size in the eyepiece and sheer amount of stars is something to be seen, even in binoculars this cluster shines.
The cluster contains about 120 stars!  The cluster is estimated at between 200 and 350 million years old.
It is only 3 degrees from the Eta Carina star and it's associated nebula.

Collinder 240, Open Cluster in Carina, magnitude =3.90

This open cluster is found in the constellation Carina
Please note this object is not NGC 3572 but it is included in Cr 240.
The Collinder catalog was compiled by Swedish astronomer Per Collinder, it was published as an appendix to his 1931 paper On structural properties of open galactic clusters and their spatial distribution.
The cluster lies almost 1⁰ 43 from our previous target NGC 3532.
While not as dense and spread out as our previous target this mag 3 cluster is a easy pick up even under the moonlight.

Something else to look out for this week is the Sirius occultation, for more on this see HERE.

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION(ISS).

The ISS makes a few welcome early evening passes this week.
Below is the table from Spot the station for Durban, to see more for your city click on the "Spot the station" link under "Useful links" to the right of this blog.

Date	Visible	Max Height	Appears	Disappears	Share Event
Mon Feb 18, 3:41 AM	< 1 min	15°	15° above NE	10° above NE
Mon Feb 18, 8:15 PM	2 min	17°	17° above SW	10° above S
Tue Feb 19, 7:23 PM	3 min	32°	32° above SW	11° above SSE
Thu Feb 21, 7:17 PM	1 min	13°	13° above SSW	10° above S

Get out there and watch the ISS as it sails way above our heads!

With a bit of luck you will find some clear skies and have some fun out there, by eye, binocular or scope keep looking up!

Sirius occultation February 18 2019.

On the evening of  18 February 2019 you can witness the occultation of Sirius by asteroid 4388 Jurgenstock.

SIRIUS, Alpha Canis Majoris, 9CMa.

The bad news is that we here in the Southern half of Africa will not see it.
It will be visible from large parts of the United States, Mexico and Canada at about 23H30 CST.

Sirius is the brightest star in the night skies, it shines at a magnitude of -1.46. and is a double star in the constellation Canis Major, the companion star shines at a magnitude of +8.50. and the two are the fifth closest star system to ours. Below is a image from SkySafari showing the nearest star systems to ours and a image showing both Sirius and it's "pup". All images courtesy of SkySafari 6 Pro.

You will require a medium to large aperture scope to split the two in the eyepiece.
Sirius B or "The Pup" sits in close to Sirius A with a separation of only 2.5" to 11.3". The two are about 20 AU from each other. The image above is zoomed in to exaggerate the separation, through the eyepiece they are barely separated.
There is some debate as to how much Sirius will dim or even wink out for a moment. Some websites are reporting a few tenths of a second where Sirius will disappear and others claim  a considerable dimming instead. With the asteroid not having a large enough diameter it may not be big enough to completely cover Sirius, so I suspect more of a dimming than anything else,
You can see more on this HERE.

Asteroid  4388 Jurgenstock is approximately 4.690 kilometers across with a rotation period of 2.81 hours.
It orbits the sun in the inner main asteroid belt at a distance of 1,7 to 3 AU every 3 years and 7 months.

 So if you are in the right place at the right time...

Below are two images courtesy of SkySafari 6 Pro, the first depicts Sirius in comparison to other stars and the second image is a chart of where to see Sirius in the night skies from a southern hemisphere perspective.

NIGHT SKY THIS WEEK 11-17 FEBRUARY 2019.

Night sky this week 11-17 February 2019.

And so another week fades into memory and we look toward the next.
Once again clouds were the order of the day for Durban. Friday night saw the skies clear and I was able to get the scope out and checked out two clusters in Vela before the cloud curtain closed on my show again. There was no rapturous applause from the audience as they sat stunned and disappointed yet again!
I guess two is better than none.😊

So, given clear skies what can we expect from this week.

MOON AND PLANETS.

The Moon will become more prominent and only setting around midnight. By  Feb 13th it will have reached first quarter and appears as half illuminated.
This is a great time to use your binoculars or scope and hunt down mountain ranges and craters along the terminator of the now 9 day old Moon, since they now cast long shadows and are easier to pick up.
Also on the night of the 13th Mars and Uranus will have a close approach and conjunction.
The two will pass within 0°58' of each other.
Best seen in binoculars from darker skies.

Venus, having recently passed it greatest elongation West, is still a bright early morning object.
Jupiter now rises shortly after midnight with Saturn following along after 2 AM. Both are bright naked eye objects and Jupiter, it great red spot and moons are always a treat in the eyepiece.

Mars Uranus conjunction

DEEP SKY OBSERVING (DSO).

With an increasingly brightening Moon we need to turn our attentions to the easier to see targets, especially from light polluted urban back yards!

Probably the biggest attraction this week is actually something that is in the solar system and not really a DSO. But comets are always spectacular to see and since this comet has a orbital period of 934 years we will not see it again in this lifetime!

COMET C/2018 Y1(IWAMOTO)

This comet will reach expected peak brightness of  +- 5.5(estimates range from 5.5 to 6.7) on 12th Feb, from Durban it will reach a maximum altitude above horizon of   53° at about 01H48. By then the Moon should have set so you should have a good shot at this one.
Continue to look for it in the days before and after the 12th to see how quickly it moves across the skies.
A more complete posting on the comet is HERE
There are some reports of it becoming a binocular object already, it would be best seen in telescopes and will not be a naked eye comet, sorry!

Now for a actual DSO, 😋


LYNGA 2, Open Cluster in Centaurus, Magnitude +6.40.

This cluster comes from the Lynga Open Cluster Catalog as compiled by Gosta Lynga, Lund Observatory. For more on these catalogs see HERE.
This cluster lies almost midway between Beta Centauri and Alpha2 Centauri, or as they are known by their more common names, Hadar and Rigel Kentaurus.
This is a easy cluster to pick up at 6th magnitude. It's apparent size is approximately 13.0 arcminutes, giving you a corresponding physical diameter of 11 light years.
It's brighter members easily stand out from the background.
Happy hunting!

THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. (ISS)

This week we see several passes that will be visible over South and some parts of Southern Africa.
The chart below is courtesy of Spot the station, a link to the page is in the right column of this blog under "Useful Links".

Date	Visible	Max Height	Appears	Disappears	Share Event
Wed Feb 13, 4:40 AM	2 min	16°	11° above S	16° above SSE
Fri Feb 15, 4:33 AM	6 min	41°	10° above SSW	11° above ENE
Fri Feb 15, 7:33 PM	3 min	22°	11° above N	20° above ENE
Fri Feb 15, 9:10 PM	< 1 min	11°	11° above W	11° above W
Sat Feb 16, 3:42 AM	3 min	21°	10° above SSW	21° above SE
Sat Feb 16, 8:18 PM	5 min	45°	10° above WNW	18° above SSE
Sun Feb 17, 4:27 AM	6 min	55°	15° above SW	10° above NNE
Sun Feb 17, 7:26 PM	6 min	76°	11° above NW	10° above SE
Sun Feb 17, 9:07 PM	< 1 min	10°	10° above SSW	10° above SSW

Image courtesy Nasa.

So get outside with some binoculars or your naked eyes and look up at the station as it passes overhead and spare a thought for the men and women that call it home for a few months each year.
That's a long time to be away from family!
The experiments and experience gained from such spaceflight helps both Earth based technologies and is the forerunner to extended space travel.

Enjoy your clear evening skies if you have them and look up at the wonder and vastness of the Milky Way and universe beyond our little planet, right there above the roof of your home, get out and see it!