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February 4: Io and its shadow transit Jupiter
With the waning Moon rising later and later, there’s a dark window between sunset and moonrise to get in some deep-sky observing. Tonight we’re seeking out M106, a great galaxy to observe with your telescope, particularly if you can bump up the aperture. Larger scopes will show more detail, but this target is no slouch even in small or medium scopes under dark skies.
Shining at magnitude 8.4, you’ll find M106 in the north in the constellation Canes Venatici. Early this evening, it lies far to the right of the North Star and to the lower right of the cup of the Big Dipper. To reach the galaxy, just move your scope 5.5° east of magnitude 3.7 Chi (χ) Ursae Majoris, or start at brighter magnitude 2.4 Phecda (Gamma [γ] UMa) and move 7.5° southeast.
Measuring some 20’ by 8’, M106 is a lovely spiral galaxy tilted slightly to our line of sight, much like the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Like M31, it has a bright core and fainter spiral arms, and may look like a glowing, oval-shaped fuzz in smaller scopes. M106 also has prominent dust lanes and a pronounced northern arm that stands out far better than its southern one.
Sunrise: 7:04 A.M.
Sunset: 5:24 P.M.
Moonrise: 9:48 P.M.
Moonset: 8:53 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (81%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location.
