By Duncan Lunan

The Moon will be very close to Spica in Virgo on February 1^st, a day before it’s at Third Quarter  (half-full, waning, in the morning sky).  It will be New on February 9^th, and Full on February 24^th, when it will pass through the ‘Sickle’ of Leo, between the stars Regulus and Algieba.  It passes near Venus on the 7^th, low down, before dawn, passing Jupiter on the 14^th and 15^th, and grazing below the Pleiades on the 16^th, when it will be at First Quarter  (half-full, waxing).

The planet Mercury is not visible this month, at superior conjunction beond the Sun on the 28^th. 

Venus rises at 6.00 a.m., low down in the morning sky, passed by the Moon on the 7^th, and will disappear before the end of the month.  Venus passes very close to Mars on the morning of the 22^nd, but there’s little chance to see either from the UK, particularly from Scotland.

Mars is still out of sight beyond the Sun, until spring this year.  The Griffith Observer, produced by the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, urges us not to miss the conjunction between Venus and Mars, but they’re a lot further south than we are, where both planets rise an hour and a quarter earlier. 

Jupiter, in Aries, sets at midnight, and the Moon passes Jupiter on February 14^th and 15^th.  Io transits the face of Jupiter between 6.39 p.m. and 8.49 p.m., followed by its shadow between 7.56 and 10.05 p.m..

Saturn, now off our map, sets at 7.00 p.m., and will be gone by mid-February, once passed by the Moon on the 11^th.  Saturn and Mercury are in conjunction on the 28^th, on the far side of the Sun where neither will be visible.

Uranus, on the left side of Aries, sets at 1 a.m..  Uranus appears near the Moon on the 16^th.

Neptune is in Pisces, setting around 10 p.m..  Neptune is near the Moon on January 12^th, and will be occulted by it for observers in Australia.

For this month’s recent and upcoming space news, see ‘Space Notes 37’, ON, Sunday 3rd February.

Duncan Lunan’s recent books are available through Amazon.  For more information see Duncan’s website, www.duncanlunan.com.