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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the period between February 1 and February 28, 2023. Here are the events happening in the sky of southern California.

Mercury is in the morning sky. On the 1^st, the planet rises at 5:23 a.m., PST, and the sun rises at 6:50 a.m., PST, 87 minutes later. The planet is 66-percent illuminated, in a gibbous phase, and 6.5 arcseconds wide. Mercury remains in the morning sky, but on the 28^th, the planet rises at 5:55 a.m., PST, and the sun rises 6:23 a.m., PST, 28 minutes later. A magnification of 150x is needed to see such a small disk. Do not observe any planet when it comes close to the sun, for the danger to the eyes is great.

Venus is in the evening sky, low in the southwest. On the 1^st, the sun sets at 5:23 p.m., PST, and Venus sets at 7:19 p.m., PST. The planet is 91-percent illuminated and 11 arcseconds wide. On the 28^th, the sun sets at 5:49 p.m., PST, and Venus sets at 8:12 p.m., PST. The planet is 86-percent illuminated and 12 arcseconds wide.

Mars is in Taurus the Bull and is high overhead towards the east. On the 1^st Mars sets at 2:57 a.m., PST, and is 92-percent illuminated and 11 arcseconds wide. On the 28^th, Mars sets at 1:50 a.m., PST, and presents a disk 90-percent illuminated and 8.2 arcseconds wide.

Jupiter transitions from Aquarius the Water Bearer to Cetus the Whale and then enters Pisces the Fishes. The planet is in the southwest. On the 1^st, Jupiter sets at 9:36 p.m., PST, and on the 28^th, Jupiter sets at 8:17 p.m., PST. Jupiter is 35 arcseconds wide and nearly fully illuminated. A magnification of 50x will show the Red Spot, and the four bright Galilean moons may be seen moving back and forth, roughly in a line centered on Jupiter.

Saturn is low in the southwest and ending its appearance in the evening sky. On the 1^st, Saturn sets at 6:24 p.m., PST, one hour after the sun sets. By the 7^th, Saturn sets half an hour after the sun sets and is close to the sun and unobservable until next month, when it appears in the morning sky.  A magnification of 50x is needed to see the rings and Saturn’s largest moon Titan.

Uranus is in the constellation of Aries the Ram and is observable most of the night. On the 1^st, Uranus sets at 12:46 a.m., PST. On the 28^th, the planet sets at 10:59 p.m., PST. On the 15^th, Uranus is at Right Ascension 2^h 51^m 15^s with a declination of +16° 3ʹ 47ʺ. Uranus is only 3.5 arcseconds wide, and a magnification of 150x is needed to show its diminutive disk.

Neptune is in the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer and may be observed during early evening. On the 1^st, Neptune sets at 8:36 p.m., PST. On the 28^th, the planet sets at 6:55 p.m., PST, an hour after the sun sets. On the 15^th, Neptune is at Right Ascension 23^h 40^m 1^s with a declination of -3° 26ʹ 14ʺ. Neptune is only 2.2 arcseconds wide, and so a magnification of 150x is needed to see its disk.

Full moon occurs on the 5^th, last quarter on the 13^th, new moon on the 19^th, and first quarter on the 27^th.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Venus and Neptune approach each other on the 14^th. This type of event between two or more objects is called a conjunction. On the 14^th at 6:00 p.m., PST, Venus will be 30 arcminutes or 1,800 arcseconds from Neptune. That is as close as they will be seen from Griffith Observatory.

Venus and Jupiter approach each other from February 28 to March 2. On the 28^th, the separation is one degree 29 arcminutes.  On the 1^st, the separation diminishes to 38 arcminutes.  On the 2^nd the separation is 46 arcminutes.

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