THE SKIES IN FEBRUARY

Evening Star, Issue 19778, 31 January 1928, Page 9

THE SKIES IN FEBRUARY

[Written by A. G. Crust, M.Bc., for the ‘ Evening Star.’] The Moon passes Aldebaran on the Ist at 1 p.m., am] Pollux on the 4th at •( while full Moon occurs on the 6th at 0 a.m. On the 7th she passes north of Neptune and Regains at 4.30 and 5 a.m., Spica on the']l.th at 12 noon, and roaches last quarter on the 14th at 8 a.m. An tares is due south of the maan at 12 noon on the 15th, Saturn being north of the Moon on the 16th at 7.30 a.m., as are Mars on the 19th at 1.30 and Venus at 5.30 a.m. New Moon falls on the 21st at 10 p.m., Mercury is passed on the 22nd at 3.30 a.m., Uranus on the 23rd at 9.30 p.m., and Jupiter on the 24th at 5.30 a.m. ‘The Moon is at first quarter on the 28th at 4 p.m., and passes Aldebaran two hours later. Mercury is in the evening sky, and at greatest elongation cast on the 9th, stationary on the 10th, and in inferior conjunction on the 2oth. Venus and Mars are in the morning sky, but Jupiter' is still to bo seen in the evening sky, with Ids system of moons. Saturn is in the morning sky, and Uranus in the evening sky near Jupiter. Neptune is well placed near Regains, and is in opposition on the 18th. On the 15th the Sun rises at 6.22 a.m., and sets at 8.23 p.m. Rigol, in Orion, is on the meridian at 8.26, Botelguese at 9.06, Canopus, overhead, at 9.37, Sirius at 9.56, Procyon at 10.50, and Pollux, in Gemini, at 10.55 p.m. The constellations which to the east of Orion are rather fainter, but are not lacking in interest. The constellation Gemini, to the north, representing the Twins, Castor and Pollux, is of a long rectangular shape, the stars Castor and Pollux lying at the eastern end. Castor is a blue star of type A, and a visual binary whose components are both spectroscopic doubles. Pollux, the upper and brighter of the two stars, is a yellow giant. Castor is called Alpha, and Pollux Beta, Geminorum, so that here we have a conspicuous reversal of the normal order in the naming of the stars by Greek letters. Gamma Geminorum is the bright star at the highest point of the rectangle. Gemini contains a bright Ccphoid variable named Zeta Geminorum, varying in magnitude from 3.7 to 4.5. Another variable, of the rare Algolid or eclipsing type, is to be found in Taurus above the Pleiades. Its name is Lambda Tauri, mag. 3.4, and the eclipse, which recurs every 3d 23h, (anuses the magnitude to fall to 4.2. East of Orion lies the small group Cam’s Minor, the Lesser Dog, the bright star Procyon, of type E, being one of the nearest stars to the earth, distant about ten light years, and similar in size to the Bun. It is a Binary, the companion being a very faint star, so that in several respects it resembles the Great Dog Star, Sirius.