What's Up In The Sky Now?

Jupiter and one of its moons casting a shadow on Jupiter. Photo by DMAS member Scott Dearinger, 2021

February, 2026

Our Solar System - notes by DMAS member, JoAnn Cogil

From a recent Astronomical League FB post → You know you’re a Deep Sky Observer when ….

from Steve Boerner, an Astronomical League Master Observer – “Others say you always look up when you walk out of a building.”

I know I do this, do you?

Mercury

MERCURY - begins to show again as it moves away from the Sun this month. On the 18th it will be near the Moon, low in the west, at about 6 PM CST. On the 19th, it reaches its greatest elongation which is its furthest distance from the Sun. It is this action that allows it to be visible to us on Earth.

Venus

VENUS - has left our morning skies and is slowly returning as our ‘evening star’ as it is now low in the western sky at sunset but very near the Sun. Viewing of the evening star improves in March.

Earth

Earth - Fun fact: If the Sun were as tall as a typical front door, Earth would be the size of a nickel and Earth would be about the size of an average sunspot.!

Mars

MARS - remains lost in the Sun’s glare this month and should reappear in our morning sky in a couple months. Mars has a once every 26-month opposition which means it has alternating good and bad years for viewing, with 2026 being a not so good year.

Jupiter

JUPITER - is visible all night, will be near the Moon this month and you will find both in the constellation Gemini the Twins. Jupiter has a rotational period of just 10 hours, compared to Earth’s 24 hours. This is fast for something so big!

Saturn

SATURN - sets after the Sun in the western sky, with best views early in the month. It is heading for a solar conjunction in late March.

Uranus

URANUS - On the 2nd it ends its retrograde motion. It stays close to the Pleiades this month and the Moon joins the group on the 23rd.

Neptune

NEPTUNE - still traveling the sky near Saturn but is only about 1/525 as bright as Saturn.

The Moon

01 – FULL moon at 4:09 PM CST
09 – 3rd / last quarter
17 – NEW moon at 6:01 AM CST
24 – 1st quarter

This month’s full moon is known as the Snow Moon for the typical heavy snowfall that occurs in February. It is also called the Hunger Moon, Raccoon Moon and Wolf Moon.

Some years February does not have a full moon, and this happens about once every 19 years. The last time that happened was in 2018 with the next time February won’t have a full moon expected in 2037. Some call the month without a moon a "Black Moon" month.

Other tidbits

Planetary Alignment
This month, the planets put on a show with a planetary alignment forecasted for the 28th. All planets are in the sky, but some nights they have moved closer together which creates the ‘alignment’ event. The planets follow an arc across the sky, known as the ecliptic, which is a path the Sun, Moon and planets travel as they move across our sky. This occurs because the planets orbit our Sun in a relatively flat, disc-shaped plane, which is the ecliptic line across the sky. This alignment provides an opportunity to observe multiple planets simultaneously with the naked eye
On the 28th at sunset low in the west, we see Venus, Mercury and Saturn with our eyes. Neptune is near to Saturn but requires a telescope to be seen. Jupiter and Uranus follow behind with Jupiter still in Gemini and Uranus sitting between Jupiter and Saturn along the ecliptic. Uranus also requires a telescope to see. Mars sets before the Sun early in the evening, so it is not visible.
Comet Watch
Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) – reached perihelion in January 2026 when it was at its closest point to the Sun. February 17th is the day of its closest approach to Earth when it will be about 94 million miles away. Look for it low at the southwest horizon about 1 hour after sunset. It currently has a magnitude of about 8 but is expected to reach peak brightness this month with a magnitude of 5 which may make a good binocular target. It comes from the Oort Cloud and took millions of years to get near us. Scientists think that as it leaves it possibly won’t be back.