Happy stargazing

THE night sky constellation view is for 10pm on 1st, 9pm on 15th,and 8pm on 29th February

For those learning the night sky it can help if you orientate yourself with respect to the cardinal points.

This is particularly true if you are using a sky chart such as the one reproduced above. If you know which way north is you can then sort out the remaining cardinals. You can use a compass to find north and if you’re in a known location, say at home, use it to set a north marker like a house or prominent tree.

If using the star method, look for Ursa Major (the Great Bear) and follow the 2 righthand stars (that form the Plough or saucepan) called the pointers up to Polaris.

If you follow the curve of the panhandle you come to a bright orange star, Arcturus, low on the northeast horizon and the faint kite-shaped constellation of Bootes the herdsman. Below and to the right of Ursa Major is the unmistakeable constellation of Leo, which actually looks like a lion crouching, its reversed question mark the lion’s head and mane.

Next we turn to Draco, an oft overlooked constellation winding its way round Ursa Minor. It represents the dragon from Greek mythology that was slain by Hercules as one of his 12 labours.

Hercules has his left foot resting on the dragon’s head represented by the 4 stars Eltanin ,Gamma

(

), Xi (), Nu () and beta () Dra, together forming a lozenge shape. Going back to the Plough, following a line through the pointers and Polaris we come to the distinctive ‘W’ of Cassiopeia.

The star at the centre of the W is Cas with the star at the bottom of the left-hand V, Cas forming a line pointing to Perseus. Below Perseus you’ll find the distinctive V of the face of Taurus (the Bull), the bottom tip of the V marked by Aldebaran, a distinctive red/ orange giant representing the bloodshot eye of the bull.

The V is a genuine open cluster of stars called the Hyades, the second closest cluster to us at some 150 light years distance. Above and to the right of the Hyades is the more famous cluster of the Pleiades or Seven Sisters, though there are actually some 500 stars in the group.

Below Taurus the familiar shape of Orion is now well up in the sky soon after sunset and is probably the most recognised constellation. Betelgeuse (

Ori), a red super giant reportedly close in astronomical terms to going supernova, marks Orion’s right shoulder. Rigel ( Ori), marking the left foot, is a complete contrast to Betelgeuse as it’s a blue extreme super giant some 50,000 times as bright as our Sun, but Orion’s jewel is Messier 42 the great Orion Nebula.

You can use Orion to find a number of constellations. A line from Rigel through Betelgeuse points towards Gemini. A line up from the belt stars points to Taurus, and through Aldebaran to the Pleiades. A line down through Orion’s belt points to Canis Major and Sirius the brightest star in the night sky.

But there are other ways to find constellations. By returning to Perseus you’ll find to the south and east the distinctive pentagon of stars of Auriga (the Charioteer); its main star, Capella, is one of the brightest in the northern hemisphere. Below Auriga lies Gemini (the Twins) with its matched star pair of Castor and Pollux easy to spot. If you can’t remember which is which, C comes before P in the alphabet so Castor is above Pollux.

Going back to Cassiopeia, the right-hand V points like an arrowhead and the tip of the V is

Cas(Schedar). If we follow the V we come to Andromeda and below is the small constellation Triangulum, which is not particularly inspiring. To the right of Andromeda is Pegasus the mythical winged horse of Bellerophon, which is now low in the western sky. Pegasus and Andromeda are linked at And (Alpheratz or Sirrah).

The legs of and head of Pegasus point towards Cygnus and Lyra with the principle stars of Deneb and Vega respectively marking the top of the Summer Triangle, which is now well down in the northwest. A line from Deneb through Vega will take you to Hercules, and its distinctive keystone of stars.

The Aurora Borealis

The aurora has been quite active recently and Alan Tough captured the image below on Sunday 22nd January. Pete was up to his old tricks lurking round the car park at Spey Bay, but this time with a large group of some 16 cars brought out by Karen Cox’s excellent Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/weheartmoray

The Moon

First Quarter – Tues 31st January and Thu 1st March

Full Moon – Tue 7th February

Last Quarter – Tue 14th February

New Moon – Tue 21st February

The Planets

Mercury
moves from Capricornus into Aquarius during the month and may be visible in the evening

after sunset towards the end of the month.

Venus
is in Pisces for most of the month and is a brilliant evening object setting around 8.15pm on

the 1st to 10pm by the end of the month.

Mars
is in Leo for most of the month and an all night object rising at around 8pm on the 1st and

around 5.15pm on the 29th.