February 17 Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2022 February 17

Chamaeleon I Molecular Cloud

Image Credit & Copyright: Acquisition: Stas Volskiy (Chilescope.com), Processing: Robert Eder

Explanation: Dark markings and bright nebulae in this telescopic southern sky view are telltale signs of young stars and active star formation. They lie a mere 650 light-years away, at the boundary of the local bubble and the Chamaeleon molecular cloud complex. Regions with young stars identified as dusty reflection nebulae from the 1946 Cederblad catalog include the C-shaped Ced 110 just above and left of center, and bluish Ced 111 below it. Also a standout in the frame, the orange tinted V-shape of the Chamaeleon Infrared Nebula (Cha IRN) was carved by material streaming from a newly formed low-mass star. The well-composed image spans 1.5 degrees. That’s about 17 light-years at the estimated distance of the nearby Chamaeleon I molecular cloud.

February 17 2022 Daily Correspondence Digest for the Northern Hemisphere’s Moon Phase and Planetary Positions

You can use this link to go forward or backward in time for Moon phase information. If you are curious, you can even find out what phase the Moon was in when you or anyone else was born.

From Moongiant.com

The Moon will be in a Waning Gibbous Phase today and tonight. This is the first phase after the Full Moon occurs. It lasts roughly 7 days with the Moon’s illumination growing smaller each day until the Moon becomes a Last Quarter Moon with an illumination of 50%. The average Moon rise for this phase is between 9pm and Midnight depending on the age of the phase. The moon rises later and later each night setting after sunrise in the morning. During this phase the Moon can also be seen in the early morning daylight hours on the western horizon.

Visit the February 2022 Moon Phases Calendar to see all the daily moon phase for this month.

Today’s Waning Gibbous Phase

The Waning Gibbous on February 17 has an illumination of 99%. This is the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. The illumination is constantly changing and can vary up to 10% a day. On February 17 the Moon is 15.52 days old. This refers to how many days it has been since the last New Moon. It takes 29.53 days for the Moon to orbit the Earth and go through the lunar cycle of all 8 Moon phases.

The 8 Lunar Phases

There are 8 lunar phases the Moon goes through in its 29.53 days lunar cycle. The 4 major Moon phases are Full Moon, New Moon, First Quarter and Last Quarter. Between these major phases, there are 4 minor ones: the Waxing Crescent, Waxing Gibbous, Waning Gibbous and Waning Crescent. For more info on the Moon Cycle and on each phase check out Wikipedia Lunar Phase page.

Phase Details

Phase: Waning Gibbous
Illumination: 99%
Moon Age: 15.52 days
Moon Angle: 0.51
Moon Distance: 389,241.12 km
Sun Angle: 0.54
Sun Distance: 147,846,793.70 km

Useful Moon Resources

Check the weather before a night of Moon gazing at weather.com

For a list of all the current meteor showers visit American Meteor Society

If you want to calculate the planetary positions for a specific use and time, click on this link

Currentplanetarypositions.com

To figure out GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) for your local time use this link

For Your Local Time and Date

Northwestern Hemisphere

The time for these Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Los Angeles, California, USA

February 17, 2022
12:00 am GMT 4:00 PM PST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:28 Aquarius 17
Moon:01 Virgo 46
Mercury:02 Aquarius 01
Venus:17 Capricorn 07
Mars:17 Capricorn 11
Jupiter:10 Pisces 59
Saturn:17 Aquarius 24
Uranus:11 Taurus 11
Neptune:21 Pisces 58
Pluto:27 Capricorn 27
True Lunar Node:26 Taurus 54 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:27 Taurus 03 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):23 Gemini 41
Chiron:09 Aries 56
Ceres:01 Gemini 23
Pallas:00 Aries 59
Juno:06 Aquarius 00
Vesta:19 Capricorn 13
Eris:23 Aries 48

Fire:3
Earth:8
Air:6
Water:2

Cardinal:7
Fixed:7
Mutable:5

Northern Hemisphere

The time for these Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Chicago, Illinois, USA

February 17, 2022
10:00 pm GMT 4:00 PM CST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:29 Aquarius 13
Moon:13 Virgo 38
Mercury:02 Aquarius 58
Venus:17 Capricorn 40
Mars:17 Capricorn 51
Jupiter:11 Pisces 12
Saturn:17 Aquarius 30
Uranus:11 Taurus 13
Neptune:22 Pisces 00
Pluto:27 Capricorn 28
True Lunar Node:26 Taurus 41 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:27 Taurus 00 Rx
Lilith (Black Moon):23 Gemini 47
Chiron:09 Aries 59
Ceres:01 Gemini 34
Pallas:01 Aries 18
Juno:06 Aquarius 22
Vesta:19 Capricorn 41
Eris:23 Aries 49

Fire:3
Earth:8
Air:6
Water:2

Cardinal:7
Fixed:7
Mutable:5

Northeastern Hemisphere

The time for these Custom Planetary Positions is from the local time in Frankfurt, Germany, Europe

17 February 2022
03:00 pm GMT 4:00 PM CEST
Zodiac: Tropical (Standard Western)

Sun:28 Aquarius 55
Moon:09 Virgo 50
Mercury:02 Aquarius 39
Venus:17 Capricorn 29
Mars:17 Capricorn 38
Jupiter:11 Pisces 08
Saturn:17 Aquarius 28
Uranus:11 Taurus 12
Neptune:21 Pisces 59
Pluto:27 Capricorn 28
True Lunar Node:26 Taurus 45 Rx
Mean Lunar Node:27 Taurus 01 Rx

Lilith (Black Moon):23 Gemini 45

Chiron:09 Aries 58
Ceres:01 Gemini 31
Pallas:01 Aries 12
Juno:06 Aquarius 15
Vesta:19 Capricorn 32
Eris:23 Aries 49

Fire:3
Earth:8
Air:6
Water:2

Cardinal:7
Fixed:7
Mutable:5

Printable Good Luck Spell

For Your Listening Pleasure

Mountain Witches of Appalachia

February 2022 Full Moon Details

one Moon because by this point, the tribe’s winter food supplies had usually dwindled to the point where people had to gnaw on bones and cook bone marrow soup in order to survive. For the same reason, the Kalapuya tribe called this moon the Out of Food Moon. Appropriately, it’s also known as the Hunger Moon and the Little Famine Moon. Perhaps due to this month’s association with death, the Cherokee tribe would commune with their dead ancestors during the Bone Moon. A didanawiskawi, or a medicine person, would host a medicine dance for the community. Fasting and rituals for the dead were also common practices.

However, not all cultures associate February’s full moon with extreme cold and death. The Hopi tribe calls it the Moon of Purification and Renewal, which is very fitting because the Full Snow Moon is usually the very first full moon of the year according to the lunar calendar. Cultures that follow the lunar calendar, especially East Asian cultures, tend to associate the Full Snow Moon with new beginnings for this very reason. The ancient Chinese, for example, called it the Budding Moon.

As a matter of fact, celebrations of February’s full moon are the climax of Lunar New Year festivities in various East Asian countries. In China, the Full Snow Moon is celebrated during the Lantern Festival, also known as the Yuanxiao Festival, which is the 15th day of the Lunar New Year. During this festival, the Chinese release kongming lanterns into the sky as they admire the full moon and eat tangyuan, glutinous rice balls that are usually filled with sweet paste. The round shape of the balls symbolize family togetherness and bring good luck to the whole family.

Many East Asian cultures in general also light lanterns and bonfires to celebrate February’s full moon. According to an ancient Chinese legend, not long after Buddhism was brought into China, 17 deities were witnessed flying through the sky during the first full moon of the Lunar New Year. Shocked and excited, the populace lit fires and lanterns to see the godly beings better. They continued to do so year after year, but for more practical reasons – to chase away pests and to pray for a good crop in the upcoming spring.

In Korea, where February’s full moon is known as Daeboreum, these fiery structures are called “Houses of the Burning Moon”. During Daeboreum, Koreans hike mountains despite the freezing temperatures in order to catch a glimpse of the first rise of the first full moon of the Lunar New Year. According to legend, the very first person to accomplish this feat will have their dearest wish come true.

Local Date and Time for February 2022 Full Moon in major cities around the world:

Los Angeles,
San Francisco,
Vancouver
February 16, 2022
8:57am PST

Denver,
Salt Lake City,
Calgary
February 16, 2022
9:57am MST

Chicago,
Houston,
San Antonio
February 16, 2022
10:57am CST

New York,
Toronto,
Atlanta
February 16, 2022
11:57am EST

London,
Manchester,
Dublin
February 16, 2022
4:57pm GMT

Paris,
Rome,
Berlin
February 16, 2022
5:57pm CET

Athens,
Istanbul,
Helsinki
February 16, 2022
6:57pm EET

Dubai,
Abu Dhabi,
Muscat
February 16, 2022
8:57pm +04

Bangalore,
Mumbai,
New Delhi
February 16, 2022
10:27pm IST

Singapore,
Kuala Lumpur
February 17, 2022
12:57am +08

Perth,
Hong Kong,
Beijing
February 17, 2022
12:57am AWST

Sydney,
Brisbane,
Melbourne
February 17, 2022
3:57am AEDT

Click here to read the rest of this article about the ebruary 2022 Moon Details

February 16, 2022 Daily Correspondence Digest for the Northern Hemisphere’s Moon Phase and Planetary Positions

You can use this link to go forward or backward in time for Moon phase information. If you are curious, you can even find out what phase the Moon was in when you or anyone else was born.