With the prosperous winter starry sky, the Year of the Dragon is coming. February 10th is the grandest traditional festival in the mainland - the Spring Festival, I wish you a prosperous year of the dragon and a bright future!
Do you know that the "dragon" is inseparable from the starry sky in the sky, why do we often say "the green dragon and the white tiger and the vermilion bird Xuanwu"? Why there are "two dragons raising their heads in February" in spring, and why "flying dragons are in the sky" during the Dragon Boat Festival...... Don't look at these are all folk sayings or festivals, in fact, behind them are the knowledge and secrets of oriental astronomy!
In the Year of the Dragon, Starlink CSVA will accompany you to watch different celestial phenomena in the Year of the Dragon in different seasons.
Now let's take Beijing as an example and take a look at what celestial phenomena deserve our attention in February 2024.
1. February Moon Phase:
According to the moon phases, we can see that the Milky Way shooting window in February is in the first half of the month. The second full moon in 2024 will occur at 20:30 on the 24th, and it is recommended that you calculate the shooting time suitable for you according to the moon phase app and the local latitude and longitude.
Second, there is a popular saying among the people of Samsung Gaozhao, "Samsung Gaozhao, the New Year is coming", and it is also said that "Samsung is in the south, and it is going to be the New Year". This is because the starry sky around the Spring Festival will give us a special New Year's gift - after nightfall, when you look up at the southern night sky, there are three stars lined up, equal distance, and similar brightness. In the folk, these three stars are called lucky stars, Lu stars and birthday stars, which respectively imply "auspicious happiness, abundant wealth, health and longevity".
▲ "Fu Lu Shou" three stars in the winter night sky. Starlink CSVA Sky Photographer Duan Xin, taken in Yanling, Hunan Province on February 6, 2021 In astronomy, these three stars refer to Betelgeuse 1, Betelgeuse 2 and Betelgeuse 3 in the Orion belt. Many traditional Chinese cultures, such as poems, idioms or Chinese characters, are closely related to the starry sky culture. If you want to deeply understand the deep meaning behind the culture, please look up at the starry sky often. During the Spring Festival holiday, pay attention to looking up at the night sky in the south, look for Samsung, and experience the heavenly artistic conception of "Samsung, the New Year is coming".
▲Starlink CSVA star photographer Wang Jin, taken in Chongzuo, Guangxi on January 18, 2021
If you want to know more about the origin, pictures and shooting tutorials of Samsung Gaozhao, please click on the previous push:
★ "Samsung, the New Year is coming", what is the origin?
★ Super practical!The most dazzling starry sky of the Spring Festival is shot like this~
★ Wow! The New Year's gift from the starry sky looks like this!
3. Galaxy Recommendation:
1. "Big Diamond":
In February, the most striking thing in the starry sky is still the "big diamond" (winter hexagon) of Orion and the sky, and in the second half of the night we can see the spring star sign Leo.
Here's a hint: Friends with astronomical BCF adapters can photograph many launch nebulae around Orion, including Barnard's Ring, Kissing Moon Nebula, Horsehead Nebula, Flame Nebula, as well as Witch Head, Ultraman, Rose Nebula and many other deep-sky targets, they make the winter night extraordinarily gorgeous.
▲ Winter large diamond, also known as winter hexagon
▲Starlink CSVA photographer Liu Yingyi, taken in Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province on February 3, 2022. The core area of a large diamond (winter hexagon). Can you find the six corners of a big diamond? Try to look at them in a row
2. "Lying Silkworm Galaxy":
Before dawn in the early morning, our long-awaited "Lying Silkworm Galaxy" returned to the Northern Hemisphere again. In this season, the Milky Way has just risen, as if the silkworm treasure is lying on the horizon, so the star friends call it "lying silkworm". This is a typical form of the Milky Way in spring. In areas with southern latitudes, the form of "lying silkworms" will appear earlier and better.
▲ Starlink CSVA photographer Wang Tianwei, photographed in the spring "Lying Silkworm" in Alxa, Inner Mongolia on February 4, 2022,
4. Recommendations for wide-area deep space targets:
1. Barnard Ring + Landscape:
Due to the Earth's rotation, Barnard's Ring moves very widely after sunset and before sunrise, and its attitude changes dramatically.
▲ Starlink CSVA star photographer Guo Zhaokang, taken in Ganzi, Sichuan Province in January 2024, the C-shaped nebula above the lion in the picture is the Barnard ring
2. Color palette + Lying Silkworm Galaxy + Landscape:
The shooting time is short, and the longitude and latitude are different in different places, and the shooting time is also different.
▲ Starlink CSVA photographer Lu Gang, taken in Liangdang, Gansu Province on January 31, 2022, the "Lying Silkworm" Milky Way and Scorpio palette that appeared in spring
5. Huang Daoguang:
Zodiacal light is formed by the reflection of sunlight by dust particles that constantly surround the sun. Due to the scattering of sunlight by interplanetary dust, the ecliptic light forms a silvery-white cone of light on the ecliptic plane, which is generally triangular in shape, roughly symmetrical to the ecliptic and strengthens towards the sun.
In general, the ecliptic light is faint and is easier to see after dusk in spring or before dawn in autumn under better than ideal viewing conditions. The zodiacal light is proof of the existence of interplanetary matter, and partners with excellent dark night environments can try to observe and photograph.
▲Starlink CSVA photographer Wang Jin and the first day of junior high school, taken at Lugu Lake, Yunnan Province on January 15, 2024, Huang Daoguang before dawn
Sixth, the fairy tale of the stars and the moon
On the 5th, at 9:04 a.m., the lunar occultation of Antares, on the 8th, at 2:52 a.m., the lunar planet, at 14:31 lunar conjunction Mars, on the 9th at 6:00 a.m., lunar conjunction Mercury, on the 11th at 8:40 a.m., the lunar occultation of Saturn, on the 12th at 15:16 p.m., on the 15th, at 16:16, the lunar conjunct Jupiter, on the 18th, at 22:01, the lunar occultation of the lunar occultation of the fifth lunar vehicle.
At 23:31 on the 22nd, Venus conjunct Mars
7. Visitors from Heaven:
Comet C/2021 S3 (PANSTARRS) passed perihelion at 8:00 on the 14th of 2021 and is 1.32 AU from the Sun. The brightness is about 7.5 magnitude, and it is not visible to the naked eye, but the continent is vast, and it is expected that friends in the western region will be able to photograph her beautiful figure through lenses or telescopes.
▲Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) photographed by Starlink CSVA photographer An Jiu in Lijiang, Yunnan Province in 2021
8. 24 solar terms:
1. February 4, Lichun: Lichun is the first of the 24 solar terms. Standing means "beginning", and spring represents warmth and growth. The sun reaches the ecliptic longitude of 315° and intersects on February 3-5 of the Gregorian calendar every year. The beginning of spring is the beginning of the year, and the beginning of spring is the beginning of all things and the righteousness of all rebirth, which means that a new cycle has begun. In the traditional concept, the beginning of spring has an auspicious meaning.
2. February 19, rain: Rain is the second solar term of the 24 solar terms. The sun reaches the ecliptic longitude of 330°, and the festival falls from February 18 to 20 in the Gregorian calendar every year. The meaning of the rain solar term is the beginning of rainfall, the rainfall is mostly light rain or drizzle, entering the rainy season, there is no spring breath in northern China, and most places in the south are full of spring, a scene of early spring.
Looking at the celestial phenomena in February, it is around the time of the Chinese New Year, accompanied by the "three-star high light", the return of the "Lying Silkworm Milky Way", the shining of the "big diamond", the arrival of the spring zodiac, and the surprises brought by visitors from outside the sky...... During the Chinese New Year holiday, take the time to see the stars and meet the hunters. The Year of the Dragon must be full of anticipation!
Starlink CSVA Celestial Calendar, focusing on the actual combat of celestial forecasts!
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