February 2025 Skywatching Tips from NASA | JPL

February 2025 Skywatching Tips from NASA | JPL

Here are examples of skywatching highlights for the northern hemisphere in February 2025:

Venus blazes at its brightest in the early evening, despite  being only a slim crescent through the telescope eyepiece. Mars and Jupiter to rule the night sky after Venus sets, amid the menagerie of bright winter stars in Orion, Taurus, and Gemini. And enhance your astronomy IQ by knowing the difference between a conjunction and an appulse. 

0:00 Intro

0:13 Moon & planets

0:41 Appulses

1:39 Venus at maximum

2:51 February Moon phases

Appulse is the least apparent distance between one celestial object and another, as seen from a third body during a given period. Appulse is seen in the apparent motion typical of two planets together in the sky, or of the Moon to a star or planet while the Moon orbits Earth, as seen from Earth. An appulse is an apparent phenomenon caused by perspective only; the two objects involved are not near in physical space.

An appulse is related to a conjunction, but the definitions differ in detail. While an appulse occurs when the apparent separation between two bodies is at its minimum, a conjunction occurs at the moment when the two bodies have the same right ascension or ecliptic longitude. In general, the precise time of an appulse will be different from that of a conjunction. [Wikipedia]

Video Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Narration: Preston Dyches
Duration: 3 minutes
Release Date: Jan. 31, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Skywatching #Earth #Moon #Planets #Venus #Mars #Jupiter #Saturn #Appulses #SolarSystem #Stars #Constellations #MilkyWayGalaxy #JPL #California #Skywatching #UnitedStates #Canada #Mexico #NorthernHemisphere #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Aurora Borealis over Minnesota

Aurora Borealis over Minnesota

Photographer Thomas Spence: "The aurora are giving us a nice little display tonight with some pillars and reds. It's a cold night in Superior National Forest near Tofte, Minnesota. 8 degrees and windy but clear and beautiful."

Superior National Forest
https://www.fs.usda.gov/superior/

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, occurs in an upper layer of Earth’s atmosphere called the ionosphere, but they typically originate with activity on the Sun. Occasionally, during explosions called coronal mass ejections, the Sun releases charged particles that speed across the solar system. 

Auroras are produced when the Earth's magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere) due to Earth's magnetic field, where their energy is lost. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emits light of varying color and complexity. [Wikipedia]

Solid Colored Aurora

Green is common at the upper latitudes, while red is rare. On the other hand, aurora viewed from lower latitudes tend to be red.

Element Emission Colors

Oxygen: The big player in the aurora is oxygen. Oxygen is responsible for the vivid green (wavelength of 557.7 nm) and also for a deep brownish-red (wavelength of 630.0 nm). Pure green and greenish-yellow aurorae result from the excitation of oxygen.

Nitrogen: Nitrogen emits blue (multiple wavelengths) and red light.

Other Gases: Other gases in the atmosphere become excited and emit light, although the wavelengths may be outside of the range of human vision or else too faint to see. Hydrogen and helium, for example, emit blue and purple. Although our eyes cannot see all of these colors, photographic film and digital cameras often record a broader range of hues.

Aurora Colors According to Altitude

Above 150 miles: red, oxygen

Up to 150 miles: green, oxygen

Above 60 miles: purple or violet, nitrogen

Up to 60 miles: blue, nitrogen

The Colors of the Aurora (National Park Service)

https://www.nps.gov/articles/-articles-aps-v8-i1-c9.htm

Image Credit: Thomas Spence
Location: Tofte, Minnesota, United States
Thomas' website: 

https://www.facebook.com/ThomasjSpenceImages/
Image Date: Jan. 31, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Sun #SolarSystem #SolarWind #CME #Planet #Earth #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #Magnetosphere #Atmosphere #Science #Physics #Photography #Photographer #ThomasSpence #CitizenScience #SuperiorNationalForest #Tofte #Minnesota #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Earth 'Eclipses' Moon | Blue Ghost Moon Mission View | Firefly Aerospace

Earth 'Eclipses' Moon | Blue Ghost Moon Mission View | Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Aerospace: "I spy with my little lander, a Moon in the distance. Check out Blue Ghost's amazing view of Earth eclipsing the Moon as the lander travels on orbit. Our GhostRiders can't wait to share more postcard worthy moments as we continue on our roadtrip."

The Blue Ghost lander is currently on its 45-day journey to the Moon. Blue Ghost is seeking to land in Mare Crisium to deliver ten NASA science instruments and technology demonstrations to the Moon. They will perform numerous science and technology demonstrations, including lunar subsurface drilling, sample collection, and X-ray imaging of Earth’s magnetic field to advance research for future human missions on the Moon and provide insights into how space weather impacts the planet. Mare Crisium is a lunar mare located in the Moon's Crisium basin, just northeast of Mare Tranquillitatis. It was formed by the flooding of basaltic lava that filled an ancient asteroid impact.

Learn more: https://fireflyspace.com/missions/blue-ghost-mission-1/

Video Credit: Firefly Aerospace
Duration: 14 seconds
Release Date: Jan. 31, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Earth #ArtemisProgram #Moon #LunarLanders #FireflyAerospace #BlueGhostLunarLander #BlueGhostMission1 #BGM1 #UnitedStates #Robotics #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #STEM #Education #HD #Video