Sun rises at 6:41am
Sun sets at 6:11pm
Moon phase: just past full, waning gibbous
Moon rises at 6:57pm, Saturday
Moonset: 7:42am, Sunday
Canopus
This weekend, look for a star that northern stargazers rarely, if ever, see. It’s Canopus, and it’s the second-brightest star in the entire sky, so it’s even visible on moon-bright nights like those this weekend.
You have to be pretty far south to see Canopus, anywhere “below” the latitude of about 37 degrees North. St. Maarten residents and visitors can easily find Canopus in the month of February. Just face South in the evening hours, around 8:00 or 9:00pm. Look for our brightest star, Sirius – hard to miss! Sirius makes a broad arc across the southern sky. Canopus makes a smaller arc as it appears below Sirius in the southern sky.
Regulus
Also this weekend, the almost full moon closely partners with Regulus, a bright star in Leo, one of our favourite constellations. The moon and Regulus climb high up reaching a peak just about 1:30am local time.
The moon and Regulus go westward during the night for the same reason that the sun travels westward across the sky during the day. The Earth spins from west-to-east on its rotational axis, making it appear as if the sun, moon, planets and stars move westward across the sky while the Earth stays still. But of course, it’s the Earth that’s spinning, causing that westward shift.
It is interesting to note the moon’s position relative to Regulus Saturday night and then check it again on Sunday night. It’s only 24 hours later, but you’ll see that the moon’s position in front of the background stars has changed. That lets you know how far the moon revolves around our planet Earth in one day.
By the way, Regulus is well known for its extremely fast rate of spin. Our sun takes nearly four weeks to do one complete spin on its axis. In contrast, Regulus goes around once every 16 hours. This star has a diameter more than four times that of the sun’s and yet it still rotates much faster than our sun.
Thank you for keeping up with the Night Sky articles. If you are out later on in the week, each star rises about four minutes earlier each day than written here, and the moon rises 50 minutes later. Night Sky is researched and compiled by Lisa Davis-Burnett. Earthsky.org is a key resource for information and images. Questions or comments? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
