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BASIL February 2025

The front cover of BASIL shows an image of NGC 2070, the centre of the Tarantula Nebula, taken by BAS member Malcolm Worster when visiting New Zealand.

See p14-15 for images of the 'Wolf Moon' and the planet Jupiter by Andrew Grasemann and p24 for studies on the spiral structure of Messier 81 by Jane Clark.

Key topics for February include:

• Asteroid 29 Amphitrite at opposition on Wednesday 12th February.
• Solar activity is at moderate levels with many sunspots for solar observing.
• Mars, Jupiter and Uranus are well placed for observation during the month.
• Observe the Crater Grimaldi on the Moon, an outstanding naked eye, binocular and telescope target.
• 29 DSO observing targets are listed for February.
• Constellation of the month is Auriga, with links to star charts and DSO targets.
• Latest astronomy news – including new measurements which confirm that the universe is expanding too fast for current models.

Finally, Society News includes meetings and events for February and March, along with studies on the spiral structure of Messier 81.