What's Up In The Sky Now?

---

This month we find our night skies providing a fairly quiet month. But – I heard we need to start watching for the Blaze Star again this year as it is reported it will certainly show in 2025 and shine at a possible magnitude of +2, which is like Polaris.

MERCURY - on the 9th, the planet will be at superior conjunction, the opposite side of the Sun from Earth. Check the sky on the 24th as Mercury reappears in our night sky and can be seen below Venus with Saturn to the upper left of the little planet.

VENUS - is shining brightly in the SW sky after sunset & is best viewed in the early twilight hours. The first day of the month finds the Moon, Venus & Saturn meeting up in the night sky and shows to be the best ‘meet up’ of this year and next year. Look to the W-SW about 15 minutes after sunset to find this fun grouping. But know Venus is heading towards the sun. On the 28th we find a possible nice binocular view with Venus & Mercury in the W-SW sky with the moon below these two.

EARTH - during this month seven planets — Saturn, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Uranus, and Neptune — will align in the evening sky. Five of these planets (Saturn, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars) will be visible to the naked eye. Six planets will form a giant arc in the evening sky - Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, and Saturn. Then at the end of February, Mercury will join the fun, replacing Saturn.

MARS - the red planet shines between the bodies of the Gemini twins this month and is visible all night. Early evening of the 8th-9th, Mars shines with the Moon and Pollux in the SE and will form a “flat” isosceles triangle. Mars ceases its retrograde motion on the 23rd and starts its eastward movement for the next 2 years.

JUPITER - is king of the night sky this month! It shines brightly in Taurus, is above the bright star Aldebaran and will be visible well past midnight this month. So, look for the belts, the Great Red Spot and the 4 moons. The banded planet rotates every 10 hours and may provide nice viewing of the movements of the planet’s clouds.

SATURN - the rings are now nearly edge-on as it is ½ way through its 15-year cycle. This big planet is moving towards the Sun, so it is becoming more difficult to see. On the 24th Saturn will be above & to the left of Mercury, but quite low in the W-SW sky. By the next night, the planet moves quickly and will be below Mercury.

URANUS - can be found in the constellation Aries but will be tough to see this month. Best to try finding it after midnight to the SW of the Pleiades.

NEPTUNE - may be difficult to see this month as it rises mid-morning and sets early evening.

• 5th – 1st quarter
• 12th – FULL at 7:55 AM CST
• 20st – third quarter
• 27th – NEW at 6:44 PM CST

This month’s moon is known by Native American tribes as the ‘Snow Moon” because the heaviest snows usually fell during this time of the year. It is also known as the “Hunger Moon” as hunting was difficult due to the harsh weather of winter.

Watch for these fun Moon events –

• Early Thursday morning, February 6th, about 2 AM, look low in the west as the 60% waxing gibbous Moon occults the Pleiades!! It starts about 1:20 AM with the Moon setting at 2:30 AM.
• On the 9th the Moon lines up with Mars, Castor & Pollux in the W-NW morning twilight sky.