Volume 31 Issue 2
February 2025
February 2025
Month at a Glance:
This month most of the visible planets and two that require optical assistance will be above the horizon offering opportunities for planet viewing. Venus outshines everything but the Moon and is very visible over the western horizon. Jupiter and Mars will be visible through the night hours while Saturn gradually becomes lost in the Sun's glare.
Start the month and end it with a conjunction between a thin waxing crescent Moon, Saturn and Venus. And on the 8th-9th the Moon will have a close conjunction with Mars.
High overhead above the southern horizon (Northern Hemisphere) are the stars of the constellation Orion the Hunter. Spread out across the sky near Orion are the constellations, including Orion, and the six stars making up the Winter Hexagon' asterism. Canis Major-Sirius; Canis Minor-Procyon; Gemini the Twins-Pollux and Castor; Taurus the Bull-Aldebaran; and Orion-Rigel.
Click here for the month at a glance calendar.
What is this? "It's a prediction of when Lees Summit, MO, will have good weather for astronomical observing." Click on the graphic to go to the Clear Sky web site.
This month most of the visible planets and two that require optical assistance will be above the horizon offering opportunities for planet viewing. Venus outshines everything but the Moon and is very visible over the western horizon. Jupiter and Mars will be visible through the night hours while Saturn gradually becomes lost in the Sun's glare.
Start the month and end it with a conjunction between a thin waxing crescent Moon, Saturn and Venus. And on the 8th-9th the Moon will have a close conjunction with Mars.
High overhead above the southern horizon (Northern Hemisphere) are the stars of the constellation Orion the Hunter. Spread out across the sky near Orion are the constellations, including Orion, and the six stars making up the Winter Hexagon' asterism. Canis Major-Sirius; Canis Minor-Procyon; Gemini the Twins-Pollux and Castor; Taurus the Bull-Aldebaran; and Orion-Rigel.
Click here for the month at a glance calendar.
What is this? "It's a prediction of when Lees Summit, MO, will have good weather for astronomical observing." Click on the graphic to go to the Clear Sky web site.
Mercury moves out from superior conjunction into the evening skies during the latter part of the month.
Venus is hard to miss as it is the brightest star-like object above the western horizon in the evening after sunset.
Mars is visible high above the southern horizon amongst the stars of the Gemini Twins. Mars forms a celestial triangle with the 'Twin' stars Pollux and Castor.
Dwarf Planet Ceres will not be visible for a while as it is now at solar conjunction and soon to be at superior conjunction.
Jupiter ends its retrograde motion this month and very slowly starts to move eastward away from Aldebaran, the reddish star that marks the eye of Tauruus the Bull.
Saturn is visible but not easily seen as Saturn is close to the Sun at sunset, and will be lost in the Sun's glare by month's end.
Uranus resumes its eastward motion amongsts the stars of Aries the Ram. With an apparent magnitude of 5.7 Uranus may be visible to the naked-eye under dark enough skies, and certainly is visible with binoculars.
