Monday, February 08, 2021
Thursday February 11 to Thursday February 18
The New Moon is Friday February 12. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on the 18th.
Morning sky on Thursday, February 11 showing the eastern sky as seen from Adelaide at 6:18 am ACDST (30 minutes before sunrise). Venus is getting lower to the horizon. The inset shows the approximate view through 10x50 binoculars.
You will need a level, unobstructed horizon to see this.
Whole sky at 21:44 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset), on Saturday, February 13 as seen from
Adelaide. With the Moon out of the way by the time it is fully dark in the evening, this is an excellent time to observe the constellations, particularly in the area between the Southern Cross and Canopus.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset). click to embiggen.
Morning sky on Sunday, February 14 showing the eastern sky as seen from Adelaide at 6:22am ACDST (30 minutes before sunrise). Venus is getting lower to the horizon. It is close to Jupiter with Mercury nearby. The trio will all fit in the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. Saturn is above the trio.
You will need a level, unobstructed horizon to see this and Mercury will only be visible in binoculars.
Venus is still visible low above the horizon in the morning. This is probably the last week o see Venus before it is lost in the twilight glow. You will need a level, unobstructed horizon to see it. Venus is close to Jupiter and the crescent Moon on the morning of the 11th. Then on the 14th, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury form a triangle. You will need a level, unobstructed horizon to see this and Mercury will only be visible in binoculars.
Mars is readily visible in the evening sky above the north-western horizon in the early evening. Mars is the brightest object above the north-western horizon as ide from the Moon. Mars is near the Moon on the18th
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/
Labels: weekly sky