Monthly Night Sky information provided by Chris Vaughan (@Astrogeoguy) at Starry Night Education (@StarryNightEdu).
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]