Buckle up, star travelers this month is an exciting one, with major astrological events ahead. Check out some of our highlights coming up this month below:
• FEB: 8/9: ALPHA CENTAURID METEOR SHOWER
The typical rate of this meteor shower is modest; It occasionally produces brief outbursts of up to 20–30 meteors per hour.
• FEB 17: ANNULAR SOLAR ECLIPSE
This annular solar eclipse happens in a remote area of Antarctica. Parts of southern Africa and the southern tip of South America will see a small partial solar eclipse.
• FEB 28: PLANETARY PARADE
During this evening, we will see six planets in the evening sky. Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, and Jupiter will appear shortly after sunset. Four of those planets will be visible to the unaided eye! – Keep an eye out!
ETA CARINAE
Eta Carinae is a two-star system in the constellation Carina that refuses to be subtle. It’s about 7,500 light-years away and shines over five million times righter than the Sun — the cosmic equivalent of turning the lights on way too hard. It used to be a normal, however in 1837 it absolutely lost its mind, flared up brighter than Rigel, which we now know as, “The Great Eruption Of 1837.”
THE SMC
The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is a tiny, slightly chaotic galaxy that hangs out near the Milky Way. It’s packed with hundreds of millions of stars, weighs about 7 billion Suns (no gym membership required), and sits around 200,000 light-years away. Despite the distance, it’s one of our closest galactic neighbors that is visbile with the naked eye, “Hey, Look At Me!”
MESSIER 41
Messier 41 (M41) is a chill group of about 100 stars hanging out in Canis Major, just a short cosmic stroll south of Sirius (the overachiever of the night sky). It’s about the size of the full moon, easy to spot with binoculars and telescopes, and features a fun mix of stars — including red giants and white dwarfs — basically the galaxy’s version of “Most Diverse Friend Group.”
