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Articles > February 2010

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2010 CALENDARS
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Skywatcher's 2010
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Award-winning calendar with monthly star charts and listing daily celestial events. Suitable for beginners.
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The Lunar Year
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Sky Calendar -- February 2010

4	Moon near Spica (morning sky) at 5h UT.
4	Mars 3.2° NNE of Beehive cluster (M44) at 20h UT (midnight sky). A nice sight in binoculars or a telescope. Mag. -1.2.
5	Last Quarter Moon at 23:48 UT.
7	Moon near Antares (morning sky) at 21h UT.
8	Alpha Centaurids meteor shower peaks at 5h UT. Favorable year for a sometimes major southern shower. About 6 meteors/hour but can peak at up to 25/hour. Produces bright, fast meteors. Active Jan 28 to Feb 21. Best observed in the pre-dawn hours. • The Alpha & Beta Centaurids (Gary Kronk) • Meteor Shower Calendar (IMO) • Meteor Shower Calendar 2010 (PDF) (IMO)
13	Moon at apogee (farthest from Earth) at 2h UT (distance 406,540 km; angular size 29.4').
14	New Moon at 2:51 UT. Start of lunation 1078. • Lunation Number (Wikipedia)
14	Venus, Jupiter and Moon within a 5° diameter circle at 22h UT (Caution: only 9° East of Sun).
17	Venus 0.54° SSE of Jupiter at 2h UT (Caution: only 9° East of Sun). Mags. -3.9 and -2.0.
21	Moon near the Pleiades (evening sky) at 21h UT.
22	First Quarter Moon at 0:42 UT.
25	Moon near Pollux (evening sky) at 14h UT.
26	Moon near Mars (evening sky) at 2h UT. Mag. -0.7.
26	Moon near Beehive cluster (M44) (evening sky) at 13h UT.
27	Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) at 22h UT (357,829 km; 33.4').
28	Moon near Regulus (midnight sky) at 0h UT.
28	Jupiter at conjunction with the Sun at 11h UT. Passes into the morning sky (not visible).
28	Full Moon at 16:38 UT. • Full Moon Names (Wikipedia)
	The Zodiacal Light is caused by sunlight reflected off meteoric dust in the plane of the solar system. Choose a clear, moonless night, about 1-2 hours after sunset, and look for a large triangular-shaped glow extending up from the horizon (along the ecliptic). The best months to view the Zodiacal Light is when the ecliptic is almost vertical at the horizon: March and April (evening) and October-November (morning); times reversed for the southern hemisphere. • Zodiacal Light (Wikipedia) • Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) • Photographing the Zodiacal Light (Weatherscapes)
All times Universal Time (UT). USA Eastern Standard Time = UT - 5 hours.

Clear skies till next month!

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Sky Calendar References:

Astronomical Calendar 2010 (book) by Guy Ottewell
Starry Night Pro Plus v6.3 (software) by Imaginova
Sky & Telescope (magazine) by Sky Publishing
Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets (book) by Jean Meeus
Celestial Delights (book) by Francis Reddy and Greg Walz-Chojnacki

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