Making Your Own Star Charts
This star chart is produced using the Cartes du Ciel Sky Charts program written by Patrick Chevalley.
This free program runs on Windows computers. If you are interested in making your own star charts for use at home or school, you may obtain a copy of the program and its documentation from this Web site.
This program is very powerful and can be used to generate star charts far more detailed than the one provided here.
Previous star charts (pdf):
January 2010
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
Moon Phases |
|
| Feb. 28 | Full Moon |
| Feb.5 | Last Quarter |
| Feb. 13 | New Moon |
| Feb. 21 | First Quarter |
This star chart shows the sky over Honolulu on the 15th of the month at 10 p.m. On the first of the month, the sky will appear as shown on the chart at about 11 p.m. At the end of the month, it will appear as shown at about 9 p.m.
The chart shows the zenith, the point directly overhead at the center of the chart. The circle represents the horizon, so the stars and constellations outside it are not visible from your location, although some may rise in the east later in the night. To find stars and constellations, rotate the page until a direction labeled on the horizon circle is ahead of you. You should now be able to look back and forth between the star chart and the sky, and match up the constellations. If you click on the chart, you will see a larger jpeg version suitable for printing, or you can download a pdf file.
The Planets table gives positions on the sky (in astronomical right ascension and declination), their apparent magnitude, the time they rise, reach culmination (their highest point in the sky), and when they set. Mercury is visible in the morning. Venus is too close to the Sun to be seen until about February 23. Mars and Saturn are visible most of the night. Jupiter is visible in the early evening until mid-February, when it gets too close to the Sun. If you have a telescope, you will be able to see Uranus and Neptune in the early evening.
Planet |
R.A. |
Dec. |
Mag. |
Rise |
Culmination |
Set |
Mercury |
20h 39m
|
-19° 55'
|
-0.2
|
6h 02m
|
11h 32m
|
17h 02m
|
Venus |
22h 28m
|
-11° 10'
|
-3.9
|
7h 36m
|
13h 21m
|
19h 05m
|
Mars |
8h 28m
|
+23° 34'
|
-1.0
|
16h 39m
|
23h 21m
|
6h 03m
|
Jupiter |
22h 34m
|
-10° 01'
|
-2.0
|
7h 40m
|
13h 26m
|
19h 13m
|
Saturn |
12h 17m
|
+00° 52'
|
0.8
|
21h 06m
|
3h 09m
|
9h 13m
|
Uranus |
23h 42m
|
-02° 45'
|
5.9
|
8h 36m
|
14h 34m
|
20h 32m
|
Neptune |
21h 54m
|
-13° 14'
|
8.0
|
7h 05m
|
12h 46m
|
18h 28m
|