February 6
The Little Boat on the River
Sun Position
The Sun is in Aquarius near +13° declination. February days in the north are growing by about two minutes per day; southern daylight is still long.
Sky Highlight
No annual shower today. Eridanus, the celestial river, stretches across the southern sky on February evenings, one of the largest constellations in the sky, running from Cursa near Orion's foot all the way to Achernar near the south celestial pole.
Deep Sky Object
NGC 1535, a planetary nebula roughly 5,900 light-years away. A bright, almost circular planetary nebula in Eridanus nicknamed the 'Cleopatra's Eye', its blue-green disk makes it identifiable even in a modest telescope. Visible from both hemispheres; better placed for observers in the south.
Featured Star
Zaurak (γ Eri) is a red giant 203 light-years away, spectral class M0.5IIIb, a slow irregular variable drifting in and out of brightness over weeks. Named 'the little boat,' it floats in the river Eridanus, ruddy, restless, and going nowhere fast.
Around This Date
- February 6, 2018SpaceX launched the Falcon Heavy rocket on its first test flight, carrying a Tesla Roadster with a mannequin into a heliocentric orbit.
- February 4, 1962Seven classical planets aligned within 16° of each other as seen from Earth, a conjunction that prompted both astronomical interest and, in some quarters, apocalyptic worry.
Red, variable, drifting, some stars just float.