February 8
The Forward Foot
Sun Position
The Sun is in Aquarius near +12° declination. Day length is slowly building in the north; southern hemisphere twilights are beginning to lengthen.
Sky Highlight
No annual shower today. Gemini transits the meridian near midnight in early February, making this week excellent for sweeping the constellation's cluster-rich border with Taurus and Auriga.
Deep Sky Object
NGC 2244, an open cluster (associated with the Rosette Nebula) about 5,200 light-years away. The young open cluster that lit up the Rosette Nebula, the cluster's hot stars carved the surrounding nebula's central cavity, an example of stellar feedback shaping the interstellar medium. Visible from both hemispheres; better placed for northern observers in winter.
Featured Star
Propus (η Gem) is a red giant 350 light-years away with spectral class M3IIIab, a semi-regular variable whose brightness cycles over roughly 233 days. The forward foot of the twins, taking 233 days per breath, a slow, deep pulse at the edge of winter.
Around This Date
- February 8, 1587Tycho Brahe observed a comet whose parallax he calculated with sufficient precision to demonstrate it lay beyond the Moon, a key step in dissolving the Aristotelian crystalline sphere model.
- February 8, 2010Space Shuttle Endeavour launched on STS-130, delivering the Tranquility node and the Cupola observation module to the International Space Station, giving the crew their first full panoramic view of Earth from orbit.
A 233-day heartbeat, 350 light-years away, some clocks run slow on purpose.