Halfway to spring

Well, we have survived halfway through winter. Sunday, Feb. 2, marks the halfway point between winter and spring, which is only 43 more days away.

Feb. 2, is a cross-quarter day, or a day that is halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox which are two of the quarter-days, the other two being the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox.

In the modern Christian calendar it is called Candlemas and was the day where all the candles to be used in the church throughout the year were brought in to be blessed. We also know it as Groundhog Day where the celebrated rodent, "Puxatony Phil" is brought out to see if he will see his shadow.

Supposedly, if he sees his shadow he runs back into his burrow and there will be six more weeks of winter. Not to rain on their parade or anything, but there will be six more weeks of winter no matter what the critter sees.

The quarter-days are Lady Day on March 25, Midsummer on June 24, Michaelmas on Sept 29, and Christmas on December 25. The other cross-quarter days are Beltain--or May Day--on May 1, Lammas Day on August 1, and Samhain -- or All-Hallows Eve -- on Oct. 31.

Candlemas is a celebration of light, hence the association with the candles for the church. As Earth progresses in its orbit, the Sun is appearing earlier each day and the length of day is increasing as we approach the beginning of spring.

I hope you have been following the moon each evening as it has grown from a very slender crescent into the half-lit first quarter moon tomorrow. It is always fun to watch the moon each evening as it grows in size and changes location each night.

Also to follow it as it passes, or is near to, other astronomical objects especially the planets.

This week is special because all five of the visible planets can be observed in the evening or early morning sky. For the rest of this week tiny Mercury can be observed in the early evening sky just after local sunset as can Jupiter.

After midnight Mars makes an appearance and Saturn is up by 3 am, followed by Venus in the early morning sky by 6 am.

Mercury is best observed just after local sunset. It is very low in the west and soon follows the Sun below the western horizon. Use your binoculars and sweep just above the horizon between west and southwest for the tiny, bright dot that is the planet about a half-hour to 45-minutes after sunset.

The first-quarter moon is high in the south and halfway between the moon and the eastern horizon you can't miss the very bright king of the planets, Jupiter. On Feb. 9, 10, and 11, watch as the moon catches up with and passes Jupiter.

At midnight, Mars and Spica clear the eastern horizon and travel across the sky all night. On Feb. 19 and 20, the moon passes between the two. Saturn is up and visible by 3 a.m., and on the 21st the moon pays a visit to very bright Venus which completes our five visible planets.

Now, if you are a real astronomical die-hard, you might want to try for another planet, the outer gas-giant, Neptune, which will be near Mercury tonight and tomorrow night. If you can pull it out of the glow of the setting Sun it will be in the same binocular field of view with Mercury, just to the left, but no promises.

SKYWATCH: First-quarter moon tomorrow night, Thursday, Feb. 6. Friday night the moon is between bright Aldebaran in Taurus, and the tiny star cluster, Pleiades.

NEXT WEEK: Why does the moon always look the same, and more astronomical blathering.