February Night Sky

[CaptinCrunch]

February Night Sky
9AM EST, February 13, 2004

February brings numerous skywatching opportunities with four planets visible
for a good portion of the month.
The brightest of all is Venus. It is prominently visible in the west-southwest sky
just after dusk until around 8:45 local time this week, though the window for
viewing will expand to 9:30pm by the end of the month. The evening of
Monday, February 23 will provide a special chance to view Venus as it will
appear very close to the crescent moon in the early evening sky.

The next brightest planet is Jupiter, which appears over the eastern horizon
after 8pm local time this week. By the end of February, it will be visible just
after sunset, around 6:30 pm local time. With a small telescope, you will be
able to observe a small group of satellites orbiting the planet.
Higher in the sky above Venus is Mars, which seems like a yellowish-orange
star.

Mars is visible from dusk until around 11PM local time in February. While
it is dimmer than in August when it came within 56 million kilometers of the
earth, it is still quite visible with the naked eye. On Wednesday, February 25,
the crescent moon will make a very close pass to Mars in the western sky.

To find Saturn and its famous rings, look high in the southern sky all night. It is
located close to the feet of the Gemini constellation.

[breeze]

Thanks for posting this, Christopher! I'll be watching!

[petal*pusher]

I appreciate your post too! I just drove home from the Toledo, Ohio (1 hr. drive) that I make each Friday night to take care of my Alzhiemer's Mom.......the sky is absolutely beautiful tonight! I couldn't help but notice how bright those stars seem to be.......lots of time to gather my thoughts on the way home......and sheltered by a beautiful array of glistening stars!......p

[Pburgh]

((Hugs)) Petal

[David]

Cool

[Stephanie]

Venus is definately noticeable every evening. Thanks for posting this info!

Petal - I'm copying Karan but (((HUGS)))

[ColdFront77]

Indeed, in the last two to six months, Venus has been in the western sky and Mars has been in the southern sky. Jupiter, Mars and Mercury (quite low) have been in the night sky the last several weeks as well, obviously between the southern and western skies as well as rising in the east during the nighttime hours.