Features of the night sky on February 28, 2023

I often produce posts ahead of when I publish them.  This one sets the record between the time I produced it and its published date.  I've had it for a very long while and for various reasons, kept choosing other posts over this one each week. Lately, I haven't been getting out to new places and I've run out of material for current posts. So, the time has finally come to put this one up.  

(You may want to view this post in dim lighting. The stars are harder to see in a bright room.) 

I'll now crank up the way-back machine and pull up this oldie but goodie.... 

Last night was unusual. It was clear.  

Our 2022-2023 New Zealand summer has been an odd one. Lots of rain throughout, and recently, a torrential downpour one weekend, followed by Cyclone Gabrielle the next. I've had no opportunity at all for months to take any pictures. I therefore made the most of this longed-for opportunity.  I've also included some pictures here of Venus, Jupiter, and Moon that I took the night of March 1, 2023.

I had heard that Venus and Jupiter would appear very close to one another in the west just after sunset on March 1st. I didn't trust the sky to cooperate then so I went out a night early to see how they were doing.  I found that were not all that close. Still, it was worth the short walk up the hill to Great North Road to see them. Photos below.

Venus is the lower one.

On my way back to the Village, I passed beneath our Sky Bridge and noticed that the Moon was also rubbing shoulders, if you will, with a celestial companion.  

This was great.  I had planned to take some moon shots anyway tonight, and the apparent close proximity of the Moon and Mars caused me to quicken my pace just a little.  

I zoomed in a short time later on the Moon. 

My eyes are getting older and I love to look at craters, so let's go closer. 

And closer still in the 'crateriest' part.

This is a shot of the Moon the next night, on March 1, 2023.  Notice the difference in 'size.'

And closer

An even closer look at those craters on March 1. 

My next picture is full of amazing sights. (So dim the lights. You'll want to be able to appreciate what's up there.)

 

I want to explain what some of those stars are and considered how best to do it. Trying to describe where each star is in the picture would be difficult.  I hate to mess up the beauty of the sky, but figured that numbering the points of interest would be much easier than describing them all.  The next photo is the same shot, but numbered.  

Number 1 is Sirius, also called the dog star, and is the brightest star in the sky.

Number 2 is Betelgeuse, a super red giant, and one of the largest stars visible. It's part of the Orion constellation and is considered to be the 10th brightest star.    

Number 3 is Procyon, the eighth brightest star. 

You will notice that 1, 2 and 3 form what's called the Winter Triangle. I suggest you go out some clear night and try to find it. Although if you're in the northern hemisphere, you'll notice that your triangle will be upside down from the one I'm showing you.   

I did not number the Moon. It's quite apparent. It looks round in this photo, but is actually at about 61% of it's full size, as you saw in the previous close-up shots. I took those pictures just a few minutes before the one above. 

Number 4 is Mars.  I didn't recognize its red color that close to the Moon. (I actually thought at first that number 6 might be Mars.)  

Number 5 is a giant star named Elnath, and an unusual one because it contains the elements mercury and manganese.  

Number 6 is Aldebaran, the fourteenth brightest star in the sky. It is a red giant,  with a radius of about 44 times that of our sun.  I saw the reddish glow and mistook it for Mars. 

I'll finish tonight with one of my favorites, The Southern Cross.  

You may recall that the Southern Cross points the way to the South Celestial Pole and that as the year progresses, the constellation appears to circle around that pole.  

This next photo is one I took back on August 12, 2022.  

I'd like you to compare the one above with this next picture that I took last night. This one was taken just over six months from the one above and it's apparent that the constellation has reversed in the sky.  We have proof, not that we needed it I'm sure, that it does circle the pole.  

 -djf