LOOKING UP

Naked eye

Jupiter and Saturn have returned to the morning sky. Jupiter is considerably brighter than – and below – its ringed counterpart in the eastern sky. Jupiter and Mercury pass in early March as this inner world drops into the dawn glow, being only 0.5 degrees apart on the 5th.

Binoculars

One of the joys of living in Australia is the Southern Cross (Crux). A real bonus is if you can see all of it in one binocular field, with its star-rich Milky Way view, the arrow-shaped Jewel Box cluster and the stark contrast of the dark Coalsack nebula!

Small telescope

About halfway between the Southern Cross and false cross is the Eta Carinae complex, visible to the unaided eye. Besides its feast of open star clusters and gas clouds, its heart contains the distinctive dark nebula, the keyhole, alongside the brilliant red-coloured star

Eta Carinae itself.