Log in & Sign up
Most Commented
STARS ABOVE: Heavenly hounds appear in February sky
Andrew Fazekas
The Gazette
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
You will be able to find Sirius in the southern sky on Feb. 9.
You could say the nights of winter have gone to the dogs. But the cosmic canines I am talking about are bright, friendly and don’t bite.
Dominating the southern skies all this month are the lead stars of the constellations Canis Major and Canis Minor – two trusty companions you’ll find at night.
The two dogs rise above the eastern horizon at suppertime and a single bright star dominates each of them. Known since antiquity as the Dog Star because it lies in the constellation Canis Major (Great Dog), Sirius is easy to find, even if you are unfamiliar with the night sky. Walk out on any clear February night and just look toward the southeastern sky. The stars of nearby Orion make for a great guidepost to find the Dog Star. Using the Great Hunter’s belt of three stars, extend an imaginary line to the lower left and you will come across his canine companion heeling at his feet.
Sirius’s brilliance is unmatched by any star, and is only outshined by the sun, moon and a couple of planets. Its twinkling white light even makes it have a diamond-like appearance. Sitting at only 8.6 light years away, it is only the fifth closest star.
Sirius is exceptionally bright not only because of its proximity to us but because it is a stellar powerhouse. It is about twice the diameter of our sun and pumps out about 23 times as much light.
Meanwhile, look above Sirius in the sky and you find the pup, Canis Minor’s lead star is called Procyon. Dimmer than Sirius, it is still the eighth brightest star in the heavens and lies 11 light years from us.
Planet parade: Dominating the night sky all month long is the orange star-like planet Mars. Having just last month reached its closest point to Earth until 2014, the red planet remains at its brightest. You can find it rising in the southeast early in the evening and travelling high across the late night sky in the south.
The lord of the rings, Saturn shines with its yellowy colour low in the eastern sky in the late evening.
Meanwhile, Jupiter is finally making its last showing as it sinks quickly in the west during twilight. But catch it quickly because it will be lost in the glare of the setting sun by mid-February.
As an added sky show, don’t miss the night of Feb. 21 when the near quarter moon pays a visit to the edge of the bright Pleiades star cluster. Then on Feb. 25, the waxing gibbous moon hangs below the planet Mars in the evening sky.