Starwatch Newsletter Minnesota Starwatch is a tape-recorded message describing the night sky in the Midwest, which can be called by telelphone number (612) 624-2001 It is updated montly, and is produced by the Department of Astronomy, University of Minnesota 116 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455

Hello, this is Minnesota Starwatch for February 2002.

These cold, clear February nights can be great for stargazing with someone you love. The moon on Valentine's Day will be at its apogee, still barely a crescent after the new moon appears on February 12th. There are plenty of other interesting things happening in the heavens on Valentine's Day and all throughout the month, though. The 14th, for example, is a great time to observe the constellation Orion, the Hunter. You'll find it in the south-southeast sky. Look for the distinctive three stars that form Orion's belt just about 40ø above the horizon. The brilliant star about 10ø above and slightly to the east of the star-studded belt is the famous Betelgeuse, which marks Orion's shoulder.

The moon comes into its own late in the month. Look for the largest and brightest moon of the year on February 26th with best viewing after midnight. That night the moon will be at its perigee, more than 30,000 miles closer to earth than it was just two weeks earlier at its apogee on the 12th. Mercury will be visible close to the horizon in the east-southeast sky through much of the month. You'll have to be an early riser to see it, thought, because it's best viewed just before dawn. Venus will not be much in evidence this month until the last week, when sharp-eyed viewers might be able to spot it just above the horizon at the west-southwest about half an hour after sunset. The two planets that dominate the sky this month are Jupiter and Saturn. They lie about 28ø apart all month. Jupiter is almost ten times brighter than Saturn this month, but both planets will be visible high in the evening sky, setting after midnight.

The stars, of course, are billions of years old. But when you gaze at the night sky this month, you might reflect on some newer objects that have begun to fill the heavens. February 20th is the 40th anniversary of Colonel John Glenn's historic flight around the earth. Glenn was the first American to orbit the planet, in a flight that lasted just under five hours. Since Glenn's time, manned space flights have become - if not exactly routine - an expected feature of our lives. By some estimates, there are as many as 9000 pieces of man-made material currently circling our planet in the aftermath of various space missions. Don't worry that they're going to start interfering with your view of the planets, though. Luckily, most of the space flotsam is completely invisible to the naked eye.

Friday night telescope viewing begins at 8:00pm. Please call 612/626-0034 for more information.

The Minneapolis Planetarium offers a wide variety of programs for all ages. For more information, call 612/630-6150.

For those interested in the Minnesota Astronomical Society, call 651/649-4861 for information on their upcoming events. Minnesota Starwatch is available on-line at http://www.astro.umn.edu/Outreach/pub_out.html.

This has been Minnesota Starwatch, produced by the University of Minnesota Astronomy Department in cooperation with WCCO Weather Center.

Last Updated: Fri Jan 25 12:25:34 2002