Our planets put on good shows for skywatchers in February, with really breath-taking views of the two brightest, Venus and Jupiter, taking front stage. After sunset on February 25th, the crescent Moon and Venus will appear only 3 degrees apart above the western horizon; the Moon just above Venus. Meanwhile, Jupiter will be seen nearby too, about 10 degrees above and left of the Venus/Moon pair. After the Sun, the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter are the brightest objects seen in our sky. And all three will appear in nearly the same location!
Venus will brighten from magnitude -4.1 to -4.3 from February 1st to February 25th, and will be visible until 9:30 pm by month’s end. Jupiter is at -2.3 magnitude and will not set until midnight. Jupiter then, will be easily seen all month in the southwest from dusk until midnight. Venus, with its brightness, will be unmistakable low in the southwest after sunset.
On February 1st, Mars rises just around 9 pm; but rises closer to sunset, above the eastern horizon, at the end of the month. Mars will be at its peak visibility to us in early March (best views in two years), but its appearance in February will be nearly as good.
Mars doubles in brightness this month; from -0.5 to -1.2. Mars orbit will move from Virgo into Leo where it will be the brightest object there, except from February 7 to 9, when the nearly Full Moon will appear near it. Look East; during the
mid-evening. (7:30 to 10:30 pm).
About three hours after Mars rises, Saturn will also rise above the eastern horizon. The best time to see Saturn will be from midnight to dawn the first week of February, and from 10 pm to dawn nearer the end of the month. Saturn’s rings are tilted nicely to our line of sight and in small telescopes will make the usual spectacular view of the ringed planet we have come to expect.
We will get some help from Venus and the Moon spotting two planets, Mercury and Uranus, which are harder to see most of the time, Mercury can be hard because it is small and often gets lost in the glare of the Sun. Uranus, though big, is incredibally far away from Earth, and therefore dim.
Between February 3rd and 8th, Uranus may be seen above and slightly left of bright Venus. On February 9th, the two will be only 1/3rd of a degree apart! From February 10th to the 15th, Uranus will be below and slightly right of Venus. Through that period the two planets can be spotted in the same binocular field of view, and if one looks when the sky is darker (a little later past sunset) the blue-green color of Uranus might be seen.
Binoculars are necessary for Uranus; it is only +5.9 in magnitude (quite dim).
February 22nd will be an excellent night to look for Mercury. The waxing crescent Moon will lie just 5 degrees to the right of our innermost planet. Mercury will be at -1.2 magnitude; bright enough to be easily seen in evening twilight 30 to 45 minutes after sunset.
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