StarDate February 29, 2008

Today is Leap Day, an extra day added every four years to keep the calendar in sync with the seasons. It was created when Julius Caesar ordered an overhaul of the calendar more than two millennia ago. Later, the calendar was fine tuned by omitting three leap days every 400 years.

Antares, the "heart" of Scorpius, stands above the Moon as they rise in the early morning. They are in the south at first light.

Jupiter is low in the southeast early tomorrow. The planet looks like a brilliant star to the upper right of the Moon. Through binoculars, four of its big moons look like tiny stars flanking the planet, aligned roughly along the line between Jupiter and the Moon.