AUSTRALASIAN SKY
February 2019 North
STAR BRIGHTNESS
Zero or brighter st LYNX 1 magnitude Capella
nd N
rd E
ANDROMEDAW
3 Gemini (The Twins) N th 4 M45 (Pleiades or Seven Sisters) TRIANGULUM First quarter Moon Pollux on the 13th Hyades GEMINI M44 TAURUS ARIES CANCER Aldebaran MARS
Betelgeuse P ORION PISCES CANIS MINOR Procyon Orion’s belt The “Saucepan” Regulus M42 MONOCEROS Rigel
ERIDANUS Sirius LEPUS Canis Major CETUS (the Great Dog)
East CANIS MAJOR SEXTANS Adhara COLUMBA FORNAX CAELUM Fomalhaut
West
PUPPIS HYDRA PYXIS PICTOR SCULPTOR AQUARIUS Canopus HOROLOGIUM
RETICULUM CRATER ANTLIA DORADO PHOENIX Achernar VELA LMC CARINA False Cross VOLANS HYDRUS MENSA TUCANA PISCIS AUSTRINUS SMC GRUS
CHAMAELEON South Celestial Pole OCTANS
MUSCA CRUX INDUS Mimosa MICROSCOPIUM S Southern Cross APUS Chart Key E PAVO Pointers W CENTAURUS S Bright star Hadar Faint star TRIANGULUM AUSTRALE Alpha Centauri Ecliptic CIRCINUS MOON PHASE TELESCOPIUM Milky Way New Moon 05th P Planet First quarter 13th South ARA LMC or Large Magellanic Cloud NORMA Full Moon 20th SMC or Small Magellanic Cloud Last quarter 26th
THE CHART HIGHLIGHTS IN FEBRUARY 2019 This star chart shows the stars and constellations visible in the The best time to view the Moon is a few days either night sky for Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart in side of its first quarter phase on the 13th February. February at about 8:30pm (Daylight Savings Time), or 7:30pm Mars is in the north-western sky after sunset and (Local Standard Time) for Perth and Brisbane. For Darwin and moves from the constellation Pisces to Aries on the similar northerly locations, the chart will still apply, but some 13th. Prominent in the sky this month are the stars will be lost off the southern edge while extra stars will be constellations of Canis Major (the Great Dog) which visible to the north. Stars down to a brightness or magnitude includes Sirius – the brightest star in the sky, Orion limit of 4.5 are shown on the star chart. To use this star chart, (the Hunter), which includes the recognisable rotate the chart so that the direction you are facing (north, southern hemisphere asterism of the “Saucepan”. south, east or west) is shown at the bottom. The centre of the Crux (the Southern Cross) is low in the south- chart represents the point directly above your head, called the eastern sky although it can be easily confused with zenith point, and the outer circular edge represents the the false cross. Crux can be located by looking for horizon. the two adjacent Pointer stars in the constellation of Centaurus (the Centaur).
Sydney Observatory is part of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. The Sydney Observatory night sky map was created by Dr M. Anderson using the TheSky software. This month’s edition was prepared by Melissa Hulbert. © 2018 Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney.
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