IT WAS with great disappointment that the first space launch from British soil failed in January.

There was much excitement across the UK as eyes focused in on Spaceport Cornwall but, alas, everything did not go to plan.

Despite denied reports that the Virgin Orbit Rocket Launch only had a 50/50 chance of success, it could well transpire that another spaceport in the UK may launch ahead of a second attempt from Newquay.

Spaceport Snowdonia will also have a close eye on forthcoming events as it looks to commence its own space operations.

A small near-Earth asteroid made one of the closest approaches to Earth ever recorded during January.

The asteroid, 2023 BU, flew passed Earth on Thursday January 26, at just 2,200 miles distant, well within the orbit of global satellite traffic.

Measuring an estimated 3.5m to 8.5m in diameter, 2023 BU would have burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere as a fireball, (a bright meteor), anyway. It originally had a circular orbit around the Sun, completing one circuit every 359 days.

Following the encounter with Earth, gravitational forces have now altered the asteroid’s path which is now expected to round the Sun once every 425 days on an elongated orbit.

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)

This comet was discovered in early 2022 by two astronomers, Bryce Bolin and Frank Masci, using the Zwicky Transient Facility, earning the comet the ‘ZTF’ tag.

At the Zwicky Transient Facility, based in the Paloma Observatory in California, a camera-mounted upon a telescope scans the skies both optically and in infra-red wavelength, searching for transient objects, ranging from supernovae to comets and asteroids. The facility’s name was given in honour of Fritz Zwicky, a Swiss astronomer, who was a pioneer in this field.

Described in some astronomical quarters as a ‘dirty great snowball’, this description of a comet is not far from the actual truth.

At the heart of the comet is a nucleus, a ball of rock, dust, and ice, the remnants of which were most likely bound together during the early formation of the Solar System. Most comets have a nucleus that is less than about six miles wide.

On approach to a star like our Sun, the ice begins to sublimate, transforming from a solid state into gas, creating the appearance of an atmosphere around the nucleus. This is known as the coma. The coma can expand out to as much as 50,000 miles.

The releasing of gases, (outgassing), and melting ice contribute to forming a tail behind the comet which can measure in excess of 600,000 miles in length.

Comets can develop two tails as they travel close to the Sun, a straight gas tail and a curved dust tail. The gas tail is created by the solar wind, which pushes gas away from the comet’s coma, making the tail point backwards, away from the Sun. Not affected in the same way, the dust tail will form a curve in appearance, following the trajectory of the comet.

Having made its closest approach to the Sun on January 12, Comet C/2022 is on its outward journey which will take it many millions of miles away from Earth. On Wednesday February 1 and Thursday February 2, it will reach its closest point to Earth at 27 million miles distant.

February presents us with the best opportunity of catching Comet C/2022.

At the start of February, the comet should attain naked-eye visibility under good, clear skies, with little in the way of light pollution. As February progresses, the comet will gradually fade as it travels away from the Earth.

To make the very best of attempting to view the comet it would be useful to have a map of the night sky detailing the constellations for the time of year. With the use of binoculars, here are some key observing dates to try and locate it:

  • Sunday, February 5: The comet will pass the north-west of Capella, in the Auriga, the Charioteer.
  • Friday, February 10: The comet will be situated to the north-east of the planet Mars.
  • Saturday, February 11: The comet will be positioned to the south-east of Mars.
  • Tuesday, February 14: The comet appears to the east Aldebaran in Taurus the Bull.

At best, you will see a ‘fuzzy blob’ sporting something of a tail.

When considering the sight, remember that first and foremost the comet is a great distance away, and even though not that spectacular in appearance, it will be another 50,000 years before the comet returns to our neck of the woods making the ‘fuzzy blob’ something very special indeed.

You can also make use of The Virtual Telescope Project which consists of several, robotic telescopes, remotely accessible over the internet. The telescopes provide a ‘real time’ view of objects in the night sky, including Comet C/2022 E3, (ZTF). www.virtualtelescope.eu/webtv/

February’s full moon

This will occur on Sunday, February 5. Referred to as a ‘Snow Moon’, it is the second of two ‘micromoons’ in 2023. The first ‘micromoon’ was in January, with this second and final occurrence of the year in February seeing the full Moon at its farthest in 2023, at 252,171 miles distant, compared with the average distance between the Earth and Moon of 237,700 miles.

Planets

Venus will continue to dominate the sky after sunset, setting at around 8pm.

On the evening of Wednesday, February 22, watch for a wonderful sight in the west as Venus is joined by fellow bright planet Jupiter, with a crescent Moon lying between the two worlds.

On the following evening Jupiter will be positioned below the crescent Moon, with Venus lower down towards the western horizon. Jupiter will be setting in our skies by around 9pm.

Mars is positioned in Taurus the Bull, and aside providing a crucial marker to locate the comet, there will be a nice grouping of Mars, a first quarter phase Moon, and Aldebaran on Monday, February 27.

While Saturn will not be on view during February, the innermost planet Mercury will be positioned low in the south-east before sunrise. Try and locate Mercury during the first week of the month, when it will be rising at around 6.30am.

Society Meetings

Barry Astronomical Society – Monday, February 6. 7pm. ‘Time and Our Existence’ – Jonathan Powell. Barry Community Centre, Cemetery Road, Barry.

Bridgend Astronomical Society – Wednesday, February 15. 7.30pm. ‘The Stellar Neighbourhood’ – Steve Lubbock. Bridgend Tennis, Squash, and Bowls Club, Halo Rec Centre, Angel Street.

Moon phases

  • Full Moon: February 5;
  • Third quarter: February 13;
  • New moon: February 20;
  • First quarter: February 27.

Sunrise/sunset

  • Start of February: Sun rises at 7.50am. Sets at 5pm.
  • End of February: Sun rises at 7am. Sets at 5.49pm.

Jonathan is a contributor to the BBC Sky at Night magazine with articles also published in Astronomy Now. He has written three books on astronomy. He was BBC Radio Wales astronomy correspondent and was astronomy and space correspondent for The National. He is currently a contributor to CAPCOM, an online magazine which promotes astronomy and spaceflight to the public. He has also presented on commercial radio at Sunshine FM in Worcester, Brunel FM in Swindon, and Bath FM, and has also presented on an astronomy and space dedicated radio station, Astro Radio UK. He is currently at 107.9 GTFM in South Wales. He has also written a book on castles, ‘Fortress Wales’, and was part of the writing team for the BBC Television show, ‘The Fast Show’, which won a BAFTA.