Sky Guide February 2018

What to look out, and up, for in February.

Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers:

• Track Mars’ passage through Scorpius & Ophiuchus
• Jupiter in Libra gives us a shadow transit and a look at its Great Red spot
• Dwarf Planet Ceres at opposition on 1st February & Comet Heinze in Pegasus

Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year:

• Ralph – Open clusters Messier 67 and the Beehive Cluster in Cancer
• Jen - Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, in Ursa Major
• Paul – NCG 40, the Bow Tie nebula, in Cepheus

And we finish this sky guide with February’s moon phases.