Saturday SkyWatch
Saturday 21st February 2026
🌌 Saturday SkyWatch! 🌌
🌅 Sunset & Observatory Hours
- Sunset: 7:59 PM
- Nautical Sunset: 8:56 PM
- Astronomical Sunset: 9:29 PM
This Saturday we will be open from sunset till 10:30pm.
☁️ Weather & Viewing Conditions
B.O.M. Forecast for The Rock: http://www.bom.gov.au/places/nsw/the-rock/
To learn how to read the Clear Outside forecast page, follow this link: https://clearoutside.com/page/how_to_use/
Moon Phase
Tonight’s Moon is a Waxing Crescent (17%), 3.92 days old, and sets at 9:47PM. This means a dark sky for our observations, making it easier to see faint objects.
ℹ️ Other Information
We recommend to bring a jacket as the weather can been tricky. As always feel free to bring a picnic blanket, some snacks and non-alcoholic refreshments. Please don’t forget to bring your Aeroguard or Bushmans in case of mosquitoes or other annoying insects.
🔭 In the Sky Tonight
Note that just because these objects are in the sky at the moment, you may not always see them. Visibility is dependent on weather, moon brightness, atmospheric conditions, and equipment parameters. Check the weather and viewing conditions above, and if in doubt ask a friendly volunteer if you’re able to see an object in the night sky!
Feature Object: NGC 1097 (Barred Spiral Galaxy)
NGC 1097 (also known as Caldwell 67) is a barred spiral galaxy about 45 million light years away in the constellation Fornax. It was discovered by William Herschel on 9 October 1790. It is a severely interacting galaxy with obvious tidal debris and distortions caused by interaction with the companion galaxy NGC 1097A.
It has a supermassive black hole at its center, which is 140 million times the mass of the Sun. Around the central black hole is a glowing ring of star-forming regions with a network of gas and dust that spirals from the ring to the black hole. An inflow of material toward the central bar of the galaxy causes new stars to be created in the ring. The ring is approximately 5,000 light-years in diameter, the spiral arms of the galaxy extend tens of thousands of light-years beyond the ring. Like our own galaxy (The Milky Way) NGC 1097 has two satellite galaxies, NGC 1097A and NGC 1097B. Dwarf elliptical galaxy NGC 1097A is the larger of the two. It is a peculiar elliptical galaxy that orbits 42,000 light-years from the center of NGC 1097. Dwarf galaxy NGC 1097B (5 million solar masses), the outermost one, was discovered by its HI emission, and appears to be a typical dwarf irregular. Little else is known about it.
Prominent Constellations
Taurus, Orion, Carina, Tucana, Dorado, Gemini, Centaurus, Musca, Vela, Sculptor, Cetus, Reticulum, Fornax, Canis Major, Puppis, Monoceros, Pisces, Lepus, Columba, Horologium, Crux, Apus, Chamaeleon, Eridanus
Celestron Alignment Stars
Acrux, Betelgeuse, Ankaa, Achernar, Sirius, Menkar
Other Bright Stars
Adhara, Aldebaran, Alhena, Alnilam, Alnitak, Alphard, Aludra, Avior, Bellatrix, Canopus, Castor, Deneb, El Nath, Gacrux, Hadar, Miaplacidus, Mintaka, Mirzam, Muhlifain, Naos, Pollux, Procyon, Regor, Rigel, Saiph, Scutulum, Suhail, Wezen
Open Clusters
M 45 (Pleiades), NGC 2547, NGC 2516 (Southern Beehive), NGC 3114, NGC 3293 (Little Jewel Box Cluster), C 85 (Omicron Velorum Cluster), C 102 (Southern Pleiades), M 41 (Little Beehive Cluster), M 46, M 47, M 50 (Heart-Shaped Cluster), M 93 (Critter Cluster), C 41 (Hyades), NGC 2360, NGC 2362 (Tau CMa Cluster), NGC 2477, Cr 69, Cr 70
Globular Clusters
NGC 104 (47 Tucanae), NGC 4372, M 79, NGC 1851, NGC 1261, NGC 362, NGC 4833 (The Southern Butterfly), NGC 6101, NGC 2032, NGC 2238 (Rosette Nebula), NGC 2467
Galaxies
NGC 253 (Sculptor Galaxy), NGC 55 (String of Pearls), NGC 300 (Sculptor Pinwheel Galaxy), NGC 7793 (Bond s Galaxy), NGC 1313 (The Topsy Turvy Galaxy), NGC 1365 (Great Barred Spiral Galaxy), NGC 1097, M 77 (Cetus A), IC 2032, NGC 981, NGC 1232, NGC 1269 (Snow Collar Galaxy), NGC 1407, LMC (Large Magellanic Cloud)
Active and Interacting Galaxies
NGC 1566 (Doradus Cluster), NGC 247 (Needle s Eye Galaxy), NGC 1316 (Fornax A)
Bright Nebula
M 1 (Crab Nebula), M 42 (Orion Nebula), NGC 3372 (Eta Carinae), NGC 2070 (Tarantula Nebula), M 78 (Flame Nebula), NGC 2261 (Hubble s Variable Neb.), IC 2177, NGC 1333, NGC 1555, NGC 1579, NGC 1980, NGC 2024 (Flame Nebula), NGC 2170, NGC 2359 (Thor s Helmet)
Dark Nebula
C 99 (Coal Sack), B 22 (Taurus Dark Cloud), IC 434 (Horsehead Nebula)
Planetary Nebula
NGC 2440 (Albino Butterfly Nebula), NGC 246, NGC 2867, NGC 3195, IC 418, NGC 1535 (Cleopatra s Eye Nebula)
Planets
Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune
🪐 Astronomical Events for the month
2 Feb Full ‘Snow’ Moon: Rises in the sign of Leo, visible nationwide with a potential “halo” effect.
8 Feb Alpha Centaurids Meteor Shower: Best seen in the pre-dawn sky, with fast, bright meteors.
11 Feb Lunar Occultation of Antares: The Moon passes in front of the bright red star Antares.
17 Feb Annular Solar Eclipse: A “Ring of Fire” eclipse occurs, mostly visible over Antarctica and the southern Indian Ocean.
17 Feb New Moon: Ideal conditions for stargazing due to low moonlight interference.
19 Feb Mercury at Greatest Elongation East: Best time to spot Mercury in the evening sky.
20 Feb Conjunction of the Moon and Saturn: A close pairing of the Moon and Saturn.
27 Feb Conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter: The Moon passes by Jupiter in the constellation Gemini.
28 Feb Planetary Alignment: Six planets (Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) form an arc in the night sky.
All Month Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos): Visible throughout the month at Mag 5.3 in the sky to the SW.
3 Mar Total Lunar Eclipse. Click for more details
Note: All other astronomical events occurring this week are not visible from the Southern Hemisphere, or only visible through the daytime.
As always, don’t forget to look up wherever you are!
– The TRRO Team
References
List data is gathered using ‘Starry Night Enthusiast V8.1.0.2048’, Google AI and the following links.
Time and Date https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@-35.27,147.12
B.O.M. https://www.bom.gov.au/places/nsw/the-rock/
Clear Outside https://clearoutside.com/forecast/-35.27/147.12
Objects below 15o azimuth are not included.