February 15, 2018: Kitchissippi Nights; “Some of us are looking at the stars.”

February 15, 2018: Kitchissippi Nights;
“Some of us are looking at the stars.”

With a large portion of Kitchissippi Ward bordering on the Ottawa River, our residents have a better chance than many in Ottawa to see what goes on in the skies above us against a relatively dark background.

To take advantage of this opportunity, Newswest has asked local astronomer Mark Narwa, of AMeN_Observatory, to point out some of the more interesting celestial events that brighten both our nights and our understanding of the space we occupy. The accompanying chart shows noteworthy celestial events occurring between February 15 and the arrival of spring, the Vernal Equinox, March 20. Subsequent columns will deal with relevant events and phenomena as they occur.

Photo Caption: Sky chart courtesy of M. Narwa.

Text appearing in chart;

DATE	TIME	EVENT
February 15, 2018	4:05p.m.	New Moon.
February 16, 2018	20 minutes after sunset	Venus is 2.3° below Moon in WSW horizon.
February 23, 2018	3:09a.m.	First Quarter Moon.
March 1, 2018	7:51p.m.	Full Moon.
March 2, 2018	20 minutes after sunset	Venus and Mercury 1.3° apart in western horizon.
March 3, 2018	20 minutes after sunset	Venus and Mercury 1.1° apart in western horizon.
March 4, 2018	20 minutes after sunset	Venus and Mercury 1.2° apart in western horizon.
March 9, 2018	6:20a.m.	Last Quarter Moon.
March 10, 2018	1 hour before sunrise	Moon close to Mars in SSE sky.
March 11, 2018	1 hour before sunrise	Moon close to Saturn in SSE sky.
March 17, 2018	9:12a.m.	New Moon
March 18, 2018	30 minutes after sunset	Moon close to Venus in western horizon.
March 18, 2018	30 minutes after sunset	Venus is 3.5° apart from Mercury in western horizon.
March 20, 2018	12:15p.m.	ernal Equinox – Spring Begins. Equal Day and Night.
March 24, 2018	11:35a.m.	First Quarter Moon.
March 24, 2018	8:42p.m. – 8:48p.m.	ISS passes over Kitchissippi from SW horizon.
March 25, 2018	7:50p.m. – 7:58p.m.	ISS passes over Kitchissippi from SSW horizon.
March 26, 2018	8:33p.m. – 8:41p.m.	ISS passes over Kitchissippi from SW horizon.
March 27, 2018	7:40p.m. – 7:50p.m.	ISS passes over Kitchissippi from SW horizon.
March 28, 2018	8:24p.m. – 8:32p.m.	ISS passes over Kitchissippi from WSW horizon.
March 29, 2018	7:31p.m. – 7:42p.m.	ISS passes over Kitchissippi from WSW horizon.
March 30, 2018	8:15p.m. – 8:24p.m.	ISS passes over Kitchissippi from west horizon.
March 31, 2018	8:37a.m.	Full Moon, *Second Blue Moon of 2018.
March 31, 2018	8:59p.m. – 9:06p.m.	ISS passes over Kitchissippi from WNW horizon.

* ISS – International Space Station

* Blue Moon is a rare occasion when a full Moon occurs twice in the same calendar month.