What you can see in the night sky this February

The stars of winter are now beginning to wane and those of spring are eager to take their place Orion the hunter is still well placed in the early evening, but his position of dominance is now starting to ebb away. As the Sun continues to rise higher in the sky so the evening sky gets lighter.

The Moon Phases

First quarter 8th Full moon 16th Last quarter 23rd

The Planets

Mercury will be in the southeast morning sky in Sagittarius rising 60 minutes before sun rise but poorly placed. Venus and Mars are in morning sky in Sagittarius, but Mars will be low down towards the last week so difficult to see. Venus rises 40 minutes before the Sun and mars 110 minutes before the Sun. Jupiter and Saturn are now in Aquarius to close to the Sun to be visible.

The Constellations From 8pm

The Great Orion Nebula is an emissions nebula and cluster 1,500 light years away and can be found just under the belt in Orion in the sword. From a dark site you can see the fuzzy patch with the naked eye but it a lovely site when viewed through a pair of 10x50 binoculars or a 4.5-inch telescope. It is an enormous cloud of fluorescent gas predominantly hydrogen with traces of helium. First discovered by Nicholas Peiresc in 1611.

Andromeda is in the West look for M31 the Andromeda spiral galaxy the next to our own galaxy some 2.3 million light years away. First observed on 3rd August 1764 by Charles Messier. Orion is in the South look for M42 above, Taurus is also in the South look for Pleiades open cluster also known as the seven sisters first observed on 4th March 1769 by Charles Messier 407 light years away most people can see seven stars but when viewed in a pair of binoculars or a small telescope many more stars can be seen. Gemini is in the Southeast and Cancer in the East look for Saturn and M44 the Beehive open cluster first observed on 4th March 1769 by Charles Messier 515 light years away.

From 10pm

Aries will be in the West, Taurus and Orion Southwest, Gemini is the Southwest, Cancer in the South, Leo and the Plough in the Southeast.

From Midnight

Taurus and Orion West, Gemini is the south, Cancer in the Southeast, Leo and the Plough in the East. If you have a telescope with a mirror 8inches (200mm) or bigger it is worth looking at the Messier objects in Leo. In Leo we have M65 a spiral galaxy 24 million light years away, M66 a spiral galaxy 21.5 million light years away, M95 a barred spiral galaxy 26.5 million light years away, M96 another spiral galaxy 26.5 million light years away and M105 an elliptical galaxy. These are not easy to find the darker your site the better.

Deep sky objects

M44, M48, M81, M82, M67 and NGC2903

Events during the month

Monday 7th this evening waxing crescent moon will be 1.5 degrees to the south of the planet Uranus,

Tuesday 8th If you have a telescope look at the moon this evening and see if you can spot the clair-obscur effect known as Lunar X and V around 17.52ut on the terminator.

Wednesday 16th Mercury reaches greatest western elongation just 26.3 degrees from the Sun in the morning sky 60 minutes before sun rise.

Friday 18th look low down to the southeast horizon an hour before sun rises and see if you can spot Venus and Mars just 6.1 degrees apart.

Thursday 24th open cluster M35 in Gemini reaches its highest point in the sky this evening due south at 20.00.

Friday 25th the lunar crater Coperinicus is close the the moons terminator this morning.

Sunday 27th if you're up early this morning see if you can spot Venus Mars and the waning 15% lit crescent moon.

Monday 28th if you have a pair of binoculars look due south at 22.00 and see if you can spot M44 the Beehive Cluster at the heart of Cancer.