Crescent Moon with Brilliant Venus and Faint Neptune (early evening)

The western sky after sunset on Saturday, February 1 will offer a pretty sight when the slim crescent moon will shine close to the brilliant planet Venus, while the medium-bright, yellowish dot of Saturn shines about a fist’s diameter below them (or 10 degrees to their celestial southwest). After the sky darkens fully, around 6:30 p.m. EST, the faint, blue speck of distant Neptune might be glimpsed one lunar diameter to the moon’s lower left (or 0.7 degrees to its celestial south). The moon and the two planets will form a line that easily fits within the field of view of binoculars (inset, orange circle), but a telescope will be needed to see Neptune well. Due to the moon’s orbital motion, by about its own diameter every hour, the moon will move above Neptune and to Venus’ left in more westerly time zones.