Signs in the sky point to spring

We don't need to be reminded it is winter; clearly the season still has the area in its icy grip. However, the stars hold for us the promise of spring. All you have to do is go look.

Just rising over the eastern horizon at about 8 p.m. is the constellation Leo, the Lion, one of the first of the spring constellations. Rising with Leo is the ringed planet Saturn.

Mars is still the reigning king of the evening sky residing just below Auriga, the Charioteer and above Orion, the Hunter. The "Red" triangle of Mars, Aldebaran in Taurus, the Bull, and Betelgeuse in Orion, the Hunter can still be seen. Use binoculars and compare the color of all three objects and take a look at the Hyades star cluster behind Aldebaran while you are out. It is a nice cluster when viewed with binoculars

If you missed the conjunction of Mars and the moon on Jan. 19, you will get another opportunity for a viewing on Feb. 15. While you are marking your February calendar, put a big red circle around Feb. 20. That is the evening we get to watch a fabulous full lunar eclipse. It will be in the early evening this time instead of the sleepy pre-dawn hours like the last eclipse this past August.

The fully-eclipsed moon will appear near Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, and the planet Saturn. Get those Christmas-gift telescopes ready! Since it is February, adding a big jug of hot chocolate to your observing equipment wouldn't be too bad an idea either

And if this isn't enough to warm you up, if you look at the right time in the evening sky it is possible to see the stars of all four seasons -- including summer - in the sky at almost the same time. Cygnus, the Swan of summer in the northwest at about 5:30 p.m., Pegasus, the Flying Horse, of autumn above and to the left, Leo, the Lion of spring in the east at about 9:30 p.m., and Orion, the Hunter of winter in the south.

Well, in the words of one astronomer, I guess Mars just dodged the bullet. You may have seen or heard reports that an asteroid, the size of a football field, was headed for a collision with the Red Planet.

More measurements, however, show that the asteroid was going to miss after all by about 1,500 miles. On the cosmic scale that is a really close near-miss. Some astronomers were looking forward to the opportunity to watch a space rock slam into the red planet reminiscent of when Shoemaker-Levy 9 blasted craters in the gaseous surface of Jupiter a few years ago.

Kind of makes you wonder if there is a rock out there with the Earth's name on it. But, a miss is a miss.

SKY WATCH:

Full moon, Jan. 22. Check out the conjunction of the moon and Regulus Wednesday night, Jan. 23, and a close pairing of the moon and Saturn on Friday, Jan. 24.

NEXT TIME:

More astronomical blathering.