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Planets Aplenty

Can you see the planet for the "trees". At first glance this may look like a bunch of trees but it is dark soil on Mars. Groups of dark brown streaks have been photographed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on melting pinkish sand dunes covered with light frost.

Greg Redfern, WTOP Radio

Notice how it is staying lighter longer as winter progresses into February? We are gaining more sunlight, about one minute a day. That still leaves plenty of time for enjoying dark skies and this month we have plenty of planets to enjoy.

Mercury can be seen in the morning sky 30 minutes or so before sunrise. Prime time for the planet will be the first week of the month when it will be about a fist-width above the southeastern horizon. To see Mercury you will need an unobstructed view of the horizon and binoculars can help. A thin crescent Moon will be just to the upper right of Mercury on Feb. 11.

NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft has given us the most detailed coverage ever of the planet closest to the Sun. Check out the results here.

Venus, the Evening Star, starts to come into view just before sunset in the West-Southwest. At the beginning of the month Venus is very low but bright and can be seen with a clear view of the horizon using binoculars. Venus gets a little higher each day and by the second week joins the close company of Jupiter.

Venus and Jupiter perform a beautiful celestial waltz from Feb. 14-16 as they get closer and closer together until they are only a half-degree apart on Feb. 16. A razor thin crescent Moon joins the scene on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14). Find a clear view of the West-Southwest horizon to view this must see event. You will need binoculars. Look about a half fist-width above the horizon - the planets are bright with Venus being the brighter of the two planets. Jupiter will be lost in the Sun's glare as the month progresses.

Mars will be in the eastern sky right at sunset and will be a bright pumpkin orange color. The Red Planet just passed its closest point to the Earth Jan. 27 at a distance of 61.7 million miles. This is a much farther closest approach distance compared to 2003 when Mars was about half that distance from us. The nearly Full Moon will be to the lower right of Mars on Feb. 28.

NASA's twin Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity are beginning their sixth year on the Red Planet. Spirit remains stuck in sand and will now become a stationary science platform. Check out the latest on these intrepid explorers here

Saturn is easily visible in the east, rising at about 9:30 p.m. as February begins and at 7:30 p.m. at February's end. Remember the mysterious spokes of Saturn's rings discovered in 1980 by the Voyager spacecraft? Well, decades later the Cassini spacecraft has solved the mystery - the spokes are made of water ice grains and are thought to be seasonal in nature.

Last Quarter Moon is on Feb. 5, New Moon is on Feb. 13 and First Quarter Moon is Feb. 21. February's Full Moon occurs on the Feb. 28 and is called the Snow Moon - how appropriate for our winter this year!. Check out the very latest on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission here.

As I write this column there are news reports that indicate President Obama is canceling NASA's Constellation Program - America's return to the Moon effort. The official announcement is supposed to be made when NASA's budget is released on Feb. 1. I will have more on this in the days to come.

Here are our down to Earth events for this month.

Open House at the Department of Astronomy at the University of Maryland, College Park Campus Observatory, will be on Feb. 5 and Feb. 20. Read more about it here.

The National Capital Astronomers (NCA) will meet Feb. 13, at 7:30 p.m. at the University of Maryland Observatory. The speaker will be Dr. Scott Sheppard, "Completing the Inventory of the Outer Solar System". Read more about it here.

The Northern Virginia Astronomy Club (NOVAC) will meet at 7 p.m. at George Mason University (GMU) on Sunday, Feb. 21. The speaker will be Alan Goldberg on "The Earth is a Planet, Too: What's New in Looking at Earth from Space." Read more about it here.

The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) has Monday night tours but space is limited. Read more about it here.

Be sure to tune into the latest episode of www.astrocast.tv on Feb. 1. I will be discussing Mars and you can learn more about the Universe in which we live and explore.

This Week's Astrophoto: Can you see the planet for the "trees". At first glance this may look like a bunch of trees but it is dark soil on Mars. Groups of dark brown streaks have been photographed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on melting pinkish sand dunes covered with light frost. See the whole story by clicking here.

Got a Topic That Interests You? I literally have a whole universe of topics to select from for my column. But I'm interested in hearing from WTOP readers about what interests them. Feel free to contact me at gredfern@earthlink,net with your suggestions and comments.

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