2021 Week 8: (February 21-February 27)

The extremely cold weather has lifted from most of Canada which means we can get outside and look at the night sky in greater comfort. The Moon will be full on Saturday February 27 and will be sitting underneath the tail of Leo. Following Leo into the sky is Virgo with its many galaxies. I'm hoping to turn my telescope on this region of space to locate some of these as I check off my Messier list.

Full Moon

The large gas giants of our Solar System are still going to be quite hidden in the morning twilight as the angle of the ecliptic is quite shallow at dawn. Mercury, Venus and Neptune are all hanging out in this area too so if you want to look for planets you'll have to settle for Mars and Uranus. These two planets will be spending some time in Aries at the beginning of the week until Mars crosses over to Taurus on Tuesday. By the end of the week Mars will be in the same binocular field as the Pleiades Star Cluster. They'll be together for the better part of the week after making it a wonderful sight for observers and imagers.

The constellation Orion will be heading off into the western horizon after midnight marking another beautiful winter with this great collection of stars. If you want to catch the Messier objects in this area, including those in Lepus, Canis Major, and Puppis be sure to get on it right away.

Astronomy has been getting more popular as the pandemic drags on. People are interested in participating in hobbies that are universal but, at the same time, can be done from the backyard. CBC News recently discussed this phenomenon on their Alberta news on February 20, 2021. The last 3 minutes of the clip linked below discuss it.

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1864177219959

CBC Alberta News

I hope you have the opportunity to get out under the night sky to check out the wonders of space. If you're looking for something to do during these pandemic months look no further than right above your head!