Minnesota Starwatch for February 2008
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Starwatch Newsletter

Minnesota Starwatch is a newsletter describing the night sky in the Midwest.

It is updated monthly, and is produced by the
Department of Astronomy, University of Minnesota
116 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455

Minnesota Starwatch for February 2008

Hello, this is Minnesota Starwatch for February 2008.

February brings us two eclipses!

An annular eclipse of the Sun will occur on February 7th, but it will only be seen in Antarctica. People in New Zealand, Tasmania, and southeastern Australia will see a partial eclipse.

However, a total eclipse of the Moon the night of February 20/21 will be visible from all of North America. During a total eclipse, the Moon enters the Earth's shadow, but most of the time the surface of the Moon is not completely dark. Some long wavelength radiation (red light) from the Sun is bent when it passes through the Earth's atmosphere and still reaches the Moon. So, very often the eclipsed Moon appears a very dark crimson or blood red in color.

This month's lunar eclipse will begin at 7:43pm (CST). It takes 78 minutes for the Moon to completely enter the Earth's shadow; totality will begin at 9:01pm and last 51 minutes. It is then another 78 minutes for the Moon to exit the Earth's shadow. The total duration is 207 minutes (7:43pm to 11:10pm) with totality from 9:01 to 9:52pm.

The presence of Saturn just to the southeast of the Moon and the bright star Regulus just north of the Moon at the time of the eclipse will make this eclipse especially nice for photographers and visual observers. Hope for clear to only partly cloudy skies.

The next total eclipse of the Moon for North America is not until December 20/21, 2010.

During February Saturn will be in the constellation of Leo and will be close to the eclipsed Moon and the bright star Regulus. Mars is in the constellation Taurus and will be in the south in the early evening and in the west at midnight. The two brightest planets Venus and Jupiter are morning objects and will be visible in the southeast just before sunrise. In early February they will be in a spectacular predawn conjunction.

Friday night telescope viewing at the University of Minnesota Astronomy Department begins at 8pm. Please call (612) 626-0034 for more information. The Como Planetarium in St. Paul's Como Park offers limited star shows. For more information, call (651) 293-5398 or check their website at www.planetarium.spps.org.

For fun Astronomy Outreach programs check out our Public Outreach link, or if you're interested in how you can help build the new Minnesota Planetarium, please call 612-630-6151 or visit www.mnplanetarium.org.

The Minnesota Starwatch is produced by the University of Minnesota Astronomy Department.