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 and Macintosh 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 website.
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):
February 2011
March 2011
April 2011
May 2011
June 2011
July 2011
August 2011
September 2011
October 2011
November 2011
December 2011
January 2012
Moon Phases |
|
| Feb 7 | Full Moon |
| Feb 14 | Last Quarter |
| Feb 21 | New Moon |
| Feb 29 | 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 low in the west after sunset until about February 19. Venus shines brightly in the evening sky throughout February. Mars and Saturn are visible in the morning, while Jupiter is visible in the evening. Those with a telescope will be able to see Uranus in the evening. Neptune is too close to the Sun to be visible.
Planets |
R.A. |
Dec. |
Mag. |
Rise |
Culminate |
Set |
Mercury |
22h 19m |
–12° 15' |
–1.4 |
7h 30m |
13h 13m |
18h 56m |
Venus |
0h 30m |
+03° 10' |
–3.8 |
9h 17m |
15h 24m |
21h 32m |
Mars |
11h 29m |
+07° 52' |
–0.9 |
20h 08m |
2h 23m |
8h 38m |
Jupiter |
2h 10m |
+12° 02' |
–2.3 |
10h 43m |
17h 04m |
23h 26m |
Saturn |
13h 53m |
–08° 46' |
1.0 |
22h 58m |
4h 47m |
10h 36m |
Uranus |
0h 09m |
+00° 15' |
5.9 |
9h 01m |
15h 04m |
21h 07m |
Neptune |
22h 10m |
–11° 53' |
8.0 |
7h 21m |
13h 04m |
18h 48m |