THE SKY THIS FEBRUARY: LET'S SAY HELLO AGAIN TO OUR FAVORITE STAR

Several people have called my office lately to report an unidentified object in the sky. The object was seen rising in the east around 7 a.m., arching in the sky and then disappearing around 5:30 p.m. in the west. They described the object as a brilliant light, so bright it hurt the eyes to look at it.

After conferring with my brother astronomers in the desert southwest, we have concluded that the object reported is in fact called the Sun. Having been a recent transplant from the southwest, I do remember seeing this object nearly everyday.

Since moving to the Midwest I have noticed that I circle around the light bulbs, moth-like, during the winter time seeking as many photons as possible. In tribute to the faithful return of our Sun, lets get to know him a little better.

The Sun of course shines so brightly because the pressure, temperature, and density in the core of the Sun are so great that four Hydrogen nuclei (protons) are squeezed together until they merge to form alpha particles (Helium nuclei) and in the process give off vast amounts of energy according to Einstein's famous equation E = MC2.

Astronomers, in fact, were the ones to finally realize that nuclear fusion is the process which causes the sun to shine. This gave physicists important clues, which in part, led to the our understanding of nuclear reactions.

The Sun converts 600 million tons of hydrogen into helium each second and in the process converts 4 million tons of mater into pure energy. Nuclear fusion is perhaps the perfect way to extract energy from nature as the waste product is simply helium which is harmless to life as me know it and also makes our balloons float. Controlled nuclear fusion is the subject of great research as it could one day solve the energy needs of the world.

At this rate of burning the Sun will have consumed most of its burnable fuel in about 10 billion years. Since the Sun is thought to be 5 billion years old, it is definitely middle aged, but we don't have anything to worry about any time soon.

If we could reach into the core of the Sun and bring back to Earth a handful of material, we would have one of the largest Hydrogen bombs ever created. The destructive force of the hydrogen bomb is not due to any radiation but to the inability of Earth's atmosphere to dissipate the intense bust of energy produced in such a small area. Thus, we call it an explosion.

Meanwhile, there are billions of other "suns" out there and we call them stars. If it clears sometime this month and you go outside you will see the constellation Orion high in the south looking down on you. Orion is one of the most recognized constellations in the sky.

The bright star Betelgeuse in the upper left corner is actual variable and changes its brightness over the course of a few weeks. See if it looks brighter or dimmer in a month or so. The star Sirius low in the southeast is one of the brightest stars in the sky. You can tell by its blue-white color that it is quite hot compared to mellow Betelgeuse. Leo the Lion begins to make a presence in the east while Pegasus, the flying horse, crashes into the western horizon.

The planets put on a fine show this month as well. I ordered up the planet Venus (planet of Love) high in the western sky for my wife to celebrate Valentine's day (she pretends to believe I can do this) followed by the planets Jupiter and Saturn all lined up along the ecliptic. Even a small telescope will reveal the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn but Venus looks like a small filled disk.

Look for a close conjunction between Venus and Jupiter on the 23rd. The big dipper is getting higher in the sky in the northeast so now we can use the pointer stars to find the north star again and stop running around in circles. On the eleventh, Pluto again becomes the farthest planet from the sun as its orbit takes it back past Neptune.

~Dr. Michael Cobb is an astronomer and chairman of the physics department at Southeast Missouri State University.