The bright stars of mighty Orion, the Hunter, shine in the southeastern sky during evening in January. Orion’s sword, which covers an area of 1.5 by 1 degrees (about the end of your thumb held up at arm’s length), descends from Orion’s three-starred belt. The patch of light in the middle of the sword is […]
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Monthly Night Sky information provided by Chris Vaughan (@Astrogeoguy) at Starry Night Education (@StarryNightEdu).
Astronomical Events
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The moon will reach its new phase on Wednesday, January 29 at 7:36 a.m. EST, 4:36 a.m. PST, or 12:36 GMT. At that time our natural satellite will be located in Capricornus and 4.6 degrees south of the sun. While new, the moon is travelling between Earth and the sun. Since sunlight can only reach […] |
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On Thursday, January 30, the motion of the distant, blue-green planet Uranus through the background stars of eastern Aries will slow to a stop – completing a westward retrograde loop that it began in early September. After tonight, the planet will begin to creep eastward again. At magnitude +5.7, Uranus can be seen in binoculars […] |
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The western sky on Friday, January 31 after sunset will offer a pretty sight and photo opportunity when the slim crescent of the waxing moon will shine below Saturn, with much brighter Venus gleaming above them. The moon and Saturn will be close enough to share the view in binoculars (orange circle). Hours later, observers […] |
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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 […] |
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On Monday, February 3, the very bright planet Jupiter will temporarily cease its motion (dotted line) through the background stars of central Taurus – marking the end of a westward retrograde loop that it began in early October. The planet will be gleaming high in the southern sky every evening. After tonight, Jupiter will resume […] |
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On Wednesday night, February 5, skywatchers in North America west of Winnipeg, Manitoba and Kansas City, Missouri can watch the orbital motion (green dotted line) of the bright, 60%-illuminated, waxing gibbous moon carry it through the Pleiades star cluster (aka Messier 45, Subaru, and the Seven Sisters). In the Central Time zone, the moon will […]
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The moon will complete the first quarter of its 29.53-day journey around Earth on Wednesday, February 5 at 3:02 a.m. EST, or 12:02 a.m. PST, or 08:02 GMT. At first quarter, the moon’s 90-degree angle from the sun causes us to see it half-illuminated on its eastern side. First quarter moons always rise around mid-day […] |
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As the sky darkens after sunset on Thursday evening, February 6, the bright planet Jupiter will shine less than a palm’s width below (or 5 degrees to the celestial south of) the waxing gibbous moon high in the southern sky – close enough to share the view in binoculars (orange circle). By early evening, the […] |
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On Friday evening, February 7 in the Americas, the bright, gibbous moon will shine closely below (or celestial south of) the bright star Elnath. That blue giant star serves to mark both the upper horn-tip of Taurus, the Bull, and the southern end of the roughly oval shape of Auriga, the Charioteer, thus giving it […] |
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In the eastern sky after dusk on Sunday evening, February 9, the bright, nearly full moon will be shining a short distance to the lower left (or celestial east) of the bright reddish planet Mars – close enough for them to share the view in binoculars (orange circle). Gemini’s bright stars Castor and Pollux will […] |
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February’s full moon will occur on Wednesday, February 12 at 8:53 a.m. EST, 5:53 a.m. PST, or 13:53 GMT. In the Americas the moon will appear full on both Tuesday and Wednesday evening. The indigenous Anishnaabe (Ojibwe and Chippewa) people of the Great Lakes region call the February full moon Namebini-giizis “Sucker Fish Moon” or […] |
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For several hours after sunset on Friday, February 14, Venus will shine in the western sky at its greatest illuminated extent for the current evening apparition. In a telescope, the planet will show a 27%-illuminated waning crescent phase and an apparent disk size of 39 arc-seconds. Even with a less than fully-illuminated disk (inset), Venus’ […]
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If you live in a location where the sky is free of light pollution, you might be able to spot the Zodiacal Light during the two weeks that precede the new moon on February 27. Starting on Friday, February 14, after the evening twilight has faded, you’ll have about half an hour to check the […] |
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The star Algol in the constellation of Perseus represents the glowing eye of Medusa from Greek mythology. Also designated Beta Persei, it is among the most accessible variable stars for skywatchers. During a ten-hour period that repeats like clockwork every 2 days, 20 hours, and 49 minutes, Algol dims noticeably and re-brightens by about a […]
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When the waning gibbous moon rises in late evening on Sunday, February 16, it will be shining to the upper right (or celestial west) of Virgo’s brightest star Spica. As the night wears on the moon will shift closer to the star while Earth’s rotation carries them west, where they will set after sunrise on […] |
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Orion’s three belt stars are bright enough to tolerate tonight’s moonlight. They may look similar, but they are quite different, under closer inspection. The left-most (easterly) of the three, magnitude 1.85 Alnitak (Zeta Orionis) is bluer. In a telescope, Alnitak (Arabic for “the Girdle”) is revealed to be a very tight magnitude 1.85 double star. […] |
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The bright stars of mighty Orion, the Hunter, shine in the southern sky on mid-February evenings. The sword of Orion, which covers an area of 1.5 by 1 degrees (about the end of your thumb held up at arm’s length), descends from Orion’s three-starred belt. The patch of light in the middle of the sword […] |
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The moon will complete three quarters of its orbit around Earth, measured from the previous new moon, on Thursday, February 20 at 12:32 p.m. EST or 9:32 a.m. PST, or 17:32 GMT. At the third (or last) quarter phase the moon appears half-illuminated, on its western, sunward side. It will rise around midnight local time, […] |
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Early risers on Friday morning, February 21 can look in the southeastern sky to see the pretty sight of the waning crescent moon shining close to Antares. The duo will be cozy enough to share the view in binoculars (orange circle). That luminous reddish star located 550 light-years from our sun marks the heart of […] |
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On Sunday night, February 23, the bright reddish planet Mars will cease its westward motion through the stars of northern Gemini, ending a retrograde loop (red path with labeled dates:time) that began in early December. From this point on, Mars will ramp up its regular easterly prograde motion below the bright stars Castor and Pollux. […] |
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On the evenings surrounding Monday, February 24, the swift orbital motion of the planet Mercury (dotted red path) will carry it upwards past Saturn, and close enough for the two planets to share the view in a low magnification telescope. After the sun has completely set from Sunday through Wednesday, use binoculars (orange circle) to […] |
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The moon will reach its new phase on Thursday, February 27 at 7:45 p.m. EST or 4:45 p.m. PST, which converts to 00:45 GMT on Friday. At that time our natural satellite will be located in Aquarius and only 1.9 degrees south of the sun. While new, the moon is travelling between Earth and the […] |
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Mercury will continue to climb higher above Saturn in the western sky after sunset each evening (red dotted path). For observers in the Americas on Friday, February 28, the very young crescent moon will pose between the two planets. All three objects will fit within the field of view of certain models of binoculars (orange […] |
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The western sky after sunset on Saturday, March 1 will provide us with a spectacular sight and a lovely photo opportunity. The sliver of a crescent moon will shine below Venus and above Mercury. Venus and the moon will linger for about an hour longer after Mercury sinks below the rooftops around 6:30 p.m. local […] |