Astroblog: Thursday February 24 to Thursday March 3

Monday, February 21, 2022

Thursday February 24 to Thursday March 3

The Last Quarter Moon is Thursday, February 24, the New Moon is Thursday March 3. Mars is readily visible in the morning sky just above bright Venus with Mercury below. On the 27th and 28th the crescent moon close to the pair. During the week Mercury leaves Mars and Venus behind and sinks towards the horizon, as Saturn rises to meet it. On March 1 Mercury Saturn and the thin crescent Moon are close. On the 3rd Mercury and Saturn are very close, fitting within a medium power telescope eye piece.

The Last Quarter Moon is Thursday, February 24, the New Moon is Thursday March 3. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the Earth, on the 27th.

Morning sky on Monday February 28 showing the eastern morning sky as seen from Adelaide at 5:32 am ACDST (90 minutes before sunrise). Mars, Venus, and the thin crescent Moon form a triangle in the morning sky with Mercury and Saturn delow. The inset shows the approximate telescopic view of Venus.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).

Morning sky on Tuesday March 1 as seen from Adelaide at 6:06 am ACDST (60 minutes before sunrise). The thin crescent Moon forms a triangle with Mercury and Saturn, with Venus and Mars above.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).

Morning sky on Thursday March 3 as seen from Adelaide at 6:08 am ACDST (60 minutes before sunrise). Mercury and Saturn are at their closest.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). the inset shows the approximate binocular view of the pair.

Whole sky on Saturday February 26, 21:25 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). Orion, Taurus and the Pleiades can be seen above the northern horizon.Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are a wealth of binocular objects to discover.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury forms a triangle with the pair of Venus and Mars at the beginning of the week. During the week Mercury leaves Mars and Venus behind and sinks towards the horizon, as Saturn rises to meet it. On March 1 Mercury Saturn and the thin crescent Moon are close. On the 3rd Mercury and Saturn are very close, fitting within a medium power telescope eye piece.

Venus is rising in the morning twilight towards Mars.

Mars is rising higher, forming a pair with Venus. On the 27th and 28th the crescent moon close to the pair.

Jupiter is lost in the twilight.

Saturn emerges from the morning twilight, rising twards Mercury. On March 1 Mercury Saturn and the thin crescent Moon are close. On the 3rd Mercury and Saturn are very close, fitting within a medium power telescope eye piece.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEDST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. 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