The space station is visible in the night sky this month. Would you like to see it? Sign up for Spaceweather PHONE.
MORNING COMET: A new comet, Comet Pojmanski, is emerging in the morning sky. You can find it just east of Venus before sunrise: sky map. A small telescope or binoculars are recommended. The 5th-magnitude comet looks like a fuzzy blue star with a short tail--very pretty. [ephemeris] [3D orbit]
Note: A good morning to look is Monday, Feb. 27th, when the comet glides by the double star Algedi.
MERCURY AT ITS BEST: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west. See that pink star? That's Mercury, making a rare appearance in the evening sky: finder chart. When you see Mercury popping out of the twilight, you're looking at a very strange world. Get the full story from Science@NASA.
Above: "The Colorado river reflects the twilight sky as Mercury shines in the west," says photographer Thad V'Soske near Fruita, Colorado, on Feb. 24th.
more images: from Bill Walbek of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania; from J. Scott Langworthy at the West Mountain Ski Center near Queensbury, New York;
SPACE STATION SIGHTINGS: This week and next, the International Space Station (ISS) will perform a series of beautiful passes over North America. It's easy to see--you just have to know when to look.
On Feb. 13th, Ed Morana of Livermore, California, caught the ISS transiting the moon's Sea of Nectar:
Movie: gif (200k), mpeg (1.2 MB), Windows Media (250k)
"This is a composite of 8 images I extracted from video," says Morana, who used a 10-inch telescope and a CCD camera to observe the transit: details. Although space station transits of the moon have been recorded before, this one is probably the finest to date. The station's solar panels, radiators and living quarters are marvelously distinct.