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NEAR LEO THE LION -- Leo has a visitor this year -- Mars will be located below the lion's back end.
By JIM WHITE
Our shortest month is a day longer this year, with the addition of leap year's Feb. 29. This month we'll see our Moon as high as it gets in the night sky, the bright planets Venus and Jupiter in the southwestern sky, and Mars entering the evening sky. Clear nights are not common at this time of year, so brave the cold and explore the sky when the clouds part!
On Feb. 3, the Moon will be as far north as it gets. Our Moon's orbit is tilted with respect to the Earth's rotational axis, and as a result we see the Moon at different heights in the sky from month to month.
Next summer we'll find the Moon very low in the southern sky, when it is full. In February, it will ride high overhead. Our February full moon will be on Feb. 7, with new Moon following on Feb. 21.
Days are getting noticeably longer in February. At the beginning of the month, we'll have 9 hours 39 minutes of daylight, with sunrise at 7:30 a.m. and sunset at 5:09 p.m. By the end of the month, sunrise will have backed off to 6:47 a.m., and sunset will be at 5:50 p.m., 11 hours and 3 minutes of daylight.
Bright winter constellations Orion, Taurus, Gemini and others still dominate the evening sky, but spring constellations are beginning to rise in the east. Look for the "backwards question mark" of Leo the lion appearing on the eastern horizon. It will lie to the right of the Big Dipper, which will be in the northeastern sky, with its handle pointed down. The lion will be fully above the horizon by 9 p.m. at month's beginning, and will be up by the end of twilight at the end of the month.
Leo has a visitor this year -- Mars will be located below the lion's back end. The red planet with be brighter than Regulus, the brightest star in Leo (located at the base of the backwards question mark).
See if you can locate Leo and Mars, and note the planet's reddish hue. Mars will be moving closer to the Earth, and will be growing larger in our evening sky, all month. Mars will make its closest approach to Earth in early March.
A fun tradition that February brings us is Groundhog Day! We watch "Punxsutawney Phil" celebrated on the news, and maybe rewatch the old Bill Murray movie, "Groundhog Day."
The legend goes that if the groundhog sees his shadow (on a sunny day), we will have six more weeks of winter. And if he does not, we'll have an early spring. It is not very accurate, but everyone has fun. But, did you realize that Groundhog Day's origin lies in astronomy?
What we celebrate as groundhog day is one of four "cross-quarter" days in the year, one that lies halfway between the winter solstice (first day of winter) on Dec. 22 last year, and the spring equinox (first day of spring) on March 20 this year.
Some European Christians celebrated this day as "Candlemas day." An English tradition, that a hedgehog was said to look for his shadow on this day, came across the Atlantic to form our tradition. It may seem a strange celebration in our modern times, but when we were more dependent on the warmth and light of the Sun for daily activities, the lengthening days were a cause for celebration.
The other astronomically-related day of the month is, of course, Feb. 29. Leap years come every 4 years, since our path around the Sun takes 365.25 days, not 365. Look for an entire column about Leap year later this month.
