Night sky map February 2018 North STAR BRIGHTNESS Zero or brighter st LYNX 1 magnitude Capella nd NE 2 AURIGA PERSEUS rd ANDROMEDA 3 Gemini (The Twins) NW th 4 M45 (Pleiades or Seven Sisters) TRIANGULUM First quarter Moon Pollux on the 23rd Hyades GEMINI M44 TAURUS ARIES CANCER Aldebaran Betelgeuse 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 SE Southern Cross APUS PAVO Pointers Chart Key CENTAURUS SW Bright star Hadar TRIANGULUM AUSTRALE Faint star Alpha Centauri CIRCINUS MOON PHASE Ecliptic TELESCOPIUM Full Moon 01st Milky Way Last quarter 08th P Planet South ARA NORMA New Moon 16th LMC or Large Magellanic Cloud First quarter 23rd SMC or Small Magellanic Cloud THE CHART HIGHLIGHTS IN FEBRUARY 2018 This star chart shows the stars and constellations visible in the The best time to view the Moon with a small night sky for Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart in telescope or pair of binoculars is a few days either February at about 8:30pm (Daylight Savings Time), or 7:30pm side of its First quarter phase on the 23rd. (Local Standard Time) for Perth and Brisbane. For Darwin and Prominent in the sky this month are the similar northerly locations the chart will still apply, but some constellations of Canis Major (the Great Dog) which stars will be lost off the southern edge while extra stars will be includes Sirius – the brightest star in the sky, Orion visible to the north. Stars down to a brightness or magnitude (the Hunter), which includes the recognisable limit of 4.5 are shown on the star chart. To use this star chart, southern hemisphere asterism of the “Saucepan”. rotate the chart so that the direction you are facing (north, Crux (the Southern Cross) is low in the south south, east or west) is shown at the bottom. The centre of the eastern sky although it can be easily confused with chart represents the point directly above your head, called the the false cross. Crux can be located by looking for zenith point, and the outer circular edge represents the the two adjacent Pointer stars of Centaurus (the horizon. 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. .