Last month, Venus pulled above Saturn in our evening sky. You can still see them after sunset as this month begins. You’ll see a young moon with them at the very beginning of February. You’ll continue to see Venus and Saturn climbing the starry background while the background itself sinks a little farther into the sunset each evening. About two-thirds of the way into the month, Mercury joins from below. Mercury and Saturn are closest on the 25th at 1.4° apart. But they’re not easily seen. The best views will be from 25° to 30° north of the equator. Even there, you’ll have to spot them close to the horizon. Finding Venus won’t be a problem yet though. Then through the end of the month, Mercury climbs above Saturn, both of them remaining hard to see. A young moon joins them again on the 28th. That same day, Venus has gone as far eastward among the stars as it will this time. It begins retrograde motion just in time for next month to start.
Most observers will find Jupiter at or near the meridian at dusk. The big planet is pretty much stationary the first half of the month. With the naked eye, it won’t appear to move much at all from its position a little east of the Hyades V. Jupiter starts the month slowing down in retrograde motion, then resumes direct motion on the 4th. A waxing gibbous moon is near it on the 7th. The planet will appear to be moving noticeably faster toward the end of February. If you want to detect the very slow apparent motion earlier in the month, use binoculars or a telescope and compare positions every night or two.
Mars is about halfway up the eastern side of the sky at dusk. You can see the red planet moving into the heart of Gemini, meeting the moon on the 9th. On the 24th, the red planet turns around to resume direct motion. It remains in the middle of Gemini at the end of the month.
Morning planet watching isn’t much this month. Mercury is a morning object, technically speaking, when February begins. But it’s already lost in the morning sun glow on its way to superior conjunction on the 8th. To make up for the lack of planet watching, you can look at the morning constellations. Scorpius, Sagittarius, Ophiuchus, and Aquila are good subjects before dawn. Those far enough north can study Cygnus. Far enough south, you have Lupus and Centaurus.
If you like the dimmer planets, look for Neptune near Venus in the evening sky and Uranus higher up a little west of the Pleiades this month.
The moon’s phases this month: first quarter on the 5th, full on the 12th, last quarter on the 20th, and new on the 28th.
The moon’s at perigee on the 2nd at 367,400 kilometers away. Apogee is on the 18th at 404,800 kilometers.
The moon passes near Saturn, Neptune, and Venus on the 1st. You can see where the celestial equator is on the 2nd as the moon goes north. It’s close to Uranus on the 5th. Then it passes Jupiter and the star El Nath on the 7th, reaches 28.6° north of the equator on the 8th, and passes Mars on the 9th. See the moon near Regulus on the 13th. Two days later, Luna crosses the equator southward. On the 17th, the moon’s near Spica. See the thick, waning crescent near Antares on the 21st. Southern lunistice is on the 22nd at 28.7° south. And you won’t see this conjunction because of new moon, but the moon’s near Saturn again on the 28th.
When the moon passes near El Nath on the 7th, viewers in parts of Africa and from some spots in the Atlantic Ocean can see an occultation of the star. Much of Asia and far northern Europe get an occultation of Mars on the 9th. Spica is occulted on the 17th for viewers on islands and boats in part of the Pacific. Then it’s an occultation of Mars on the 21st for observers in southern South America and nearby regions of the Pacific.
Venus is at perihelion on the 19th at 0.72 astronomical units from the sun.