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[Music]

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what's up for february

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this month we follow the moon to three

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different points of interest in the

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winter sky

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first up excitement about the red planet

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is building as nasa prepares to land its

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latest rover there

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called perseverance on february 18th

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you'll find mars high in the west after

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sunset all month long

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it should be visible all evening setting

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around or soon after midnight local time

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on the night of nasa's planned mars

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landing you'll find the half full moon

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right next to the red planet so go out

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and have a look with your own eyes

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especially if you were one of the nearly

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11 million people whose names traveled

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to mars with perseverance etched into

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one of three microchips

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staying with the moon in february it

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next drifts through a part of the sky

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that contains a familiar pattern of

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stars

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also called an asterism this is the

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winter circle or winter hexagon

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a ring of six bright stars that spans a

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very wide region of the sky

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the winter circle contains two other

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special groupings of stars

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the constellation orion and another

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wintertime asterism

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the winter triangle made of the bright

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stars sirius

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beetlejuice and procyon like their

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counterpart the summer triangle

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the winter circle and winter triangle

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are signposts of the season

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in the northern hemisphere you'll see

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them rising in the east early in the

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evening during the time of long

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cold nights and setting in the west

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earlier and earlier

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as the season turns to spring watch on

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february 20th through the 22nd as the

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moon moves across the winter circle

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growing a bit fuller each evening

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finally the moon continues on its

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journey visiting the twins of gemini

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unlike asterisms gemini is one of the 88

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official constellations

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used by astronomers to help them

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describe the locations of objects in the

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sky

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the two bright stars castor and pollux

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form the heads of the inseparable twins

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from roman and greek mythology for which

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the constellation is named

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on february evenings gemini is located

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high overhead in the south

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on the 23rd the moon is here just below

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pollux

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nasa also has a history with gemini as

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it was the name of the human space

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flight program in the 1960s that tested

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technology and capabilities in

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preparation for the apollo missions to

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the moon

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but while the constellation is

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pronounced gemini

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not everyone knows that the name of the

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nasa program was usually pronounced

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gemini within the space agency however

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you want to pronounce it

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is fine just make sure you go out and

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catch the moon's visit with gemini on

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the 23rd

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here are the phases of the moon for

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you can catch up on all of nasa's

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missions to explore the solar system and

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beyond at nasa.gov

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i'm preston dykes from nasa's jet