This weeks upcoming predictable space and astronomy events (24 February – 2 March 2014)

Posted 23 February 2014 This post is biased towards events that can be seen with the unaided eye or via the Internet. It also can only cover predictable events. Random events such as asteroid impacts won’t be listed. Where events are time specific, I have listed the events in AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time) and AEDT (Australian Eastern Daylight Time).

Planets: Jupiter will continue to be prominent as the brightest ‘star’ in the early evening sky. Look above the Northern horizon at the end of evening twilight to locate it. Mars is now just over a month from its 2014 opposition (useful information on the opposition here and here) and is now visible low above the Eastern horizon after 9 pm AEST / 10 pm AEDT. Note that as Earth and Mars draw closer, Mars will continue to become noticeably brighter. Saturn rises just after 10:15 pm AEST / 11:15 pm AEDT.  As for Mars, look for Saturn low on the Eastern horizon. Venus is the brightest ‘star’ in the morning twilight sky. To locate Venus, look above the Eastern horizon as the sky brightens. Mercury will be visible in the bright morning twilight sky low above the Eastern horizon. If you haven’t seen Mercury, it will be much easier to see at a more convenient time in the evening twilight sky later this year (September and October 2014).

International Space Station: The International Space Station is visible in the morning sky this week for Canberra, Australia from 27 February – 2 March 2014. Information on passes for Canberra (with links to finder charts) can be found here. Go here for satellite viewing information / predictions for all Australian locations.

24 February 2014: 4 am AEST / 5 am AEDT Neptune in conjunction with the Sun

26 February 2014: Morning pre-dawn sky. Crescent Moon located above Venus.

Friday 28 February 2014: 4:07 am AEST / 5:07 am AEDT Launch of the Global Precipitation Measurement satellite. This mission is a joint project between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The satellite is equipped with an radar and microwave imager which allows it to measure precipitation from space. The launch will be webcast on NASA TV.

28 February 2014: 6 am AEST / 7 am AEDT Moon at perigee (360,440 km from Earth in its orbit)

28 February 2014: 1959: NASA launches the Discoverer 1 scientific satellite. In reality, the satellite was the first U.S. first spy satellite and part of the Corona series of spy satellites designed to spy on the United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). The now declassified Corona series of spy satellites continued to be launched until May 1972

28 February 2014: A very slim crescent Moon will be located near the planet Mercury. Morning twilight sky. Look low on the Eastern horizon as the sky brightens. Binocculars will help locate the two objects.

28 February 2014: 9 am AEST / 10 am AEDT Mercury stationary

1 March 2014: 32nd anniversary of the landing (1982) of the USSR’s Venera 13 probe on the planet Venus. The probe successfully returned an image of the surface of Venus and analysed the chemistry of the soil before succumbing to the extreme temperature and pressure at the surface.  

1 March 2014: 48th anniversary of the landing (1966) of the USSR’s Venera 3 probe on the planet Venus. No data was returned due to the failure of its communication system.

1 March 2014: 6 pm AEST / 7 am AEDT New Moon

1 March 2014: Minor planet Ceres stationary

2 March 2014: 7 am AEST / 8 am AEDT Mars stationary