Out & About February 2017

On the evening of February 5, the waxing gibbous Moon is about halfway between the striking constellation of Orion the hunter, and the seven sisters, or Pleiades, star cluster. The Pleiades can be found by following the line of Orion’s belt through the Moon and about half the distance again on the other side. Six (or more) stars may be visible to the unaided eye as a fuzzy patch in the sky, but are actually part of a cluster of about 1,000 young stars that formed from a massive cloud of gas (and little dust) around 100m years ago. In legend, the Pleiades were the daughters of the Titan, Atlas, who was condemned to hold up the sky on his shoulders.

They, and their mother Pleione, were devastated by their father’s fate, but one day the mighty hunter Orion met them and was so captivated by the lovely group that he pursued them everywhere, with amorous intent. To save them from Orion’s unwanted attentions, the god Zeus turned them into a flock of doves and placed them in the sky where Orion still admires them, in vain. The Moon is full on February 10. Various Native American Indian tribes have named the full Moon in February the Full Snow Moon, the Hunger Moon – or the Shoulder to Shoulder Around the Fire Moon. If you get the chance to watch the moon rising at about 5pm, see how large it appears. The moon on the horizon often seems to be much bigger than when it is high in the sky, but this is an illusion. Because the moon near the horizon is flattened by the distortion of our atmosphere it’s actually smaller than when it’s high up in the sky. But there’s still nothing as romantic as watching the soft golden glow of the rising moon over the landscape. This month’s full Moon is also slightly unusual as it will look a little bit darker than normal. This is because as the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon, it blots out part of the Sun’s light, causing a partial shadow on the Moon.

On February 1, the crescent Moon, Mars and Venus will form a line in the South West sky after sunset. Venus, named after the Roman goddess of beauty and love, is the brightest of the planets and the third brightest natural object in the night sky after the Sun and Moon. Venus the goddess was married to the god Vulcan, but it was not a happy marriage and she had numerous lovers, including Mars the god of war. Cupid, the mischievous winged god of love, was the son of Venus and Mars and had the ability to make people fall in love by shooting them with his arrows. In reality, the surface of the planet Venus is anything but beautiful. Although it’s nearly as large as Earth, it’s thick atmosphere is more than 96 per cent carbon dioxide, which traps the heat and makes its surface the hottest of any planet in the solar system. The pressure of Venus’ atmosphere is equal to the pressure 1,000 metres under Earth’s oceans, and the whole planet is covered by clouds of sulphuric acid. The few robotic landers that have touched down on Venus have lasted fewer than two hours in its hostile embrace.

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