The stars of winter reign through the long February nights. Orion is in the south at nightfall, with Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, twinkling fiercely to its lower left. Venus reigns as the “evening star,” although Jupiter gives it some competition in the evening sky. The two planets move closer to each other throughout the month. Mars is in the evening sky as well, climbing into good view in the east by around 9 p.m. early in the month, and by nightfall at month’s end. Mars grows noticeably brighter during the month.
Stargazing Information
This Week's Stargazing Tips
February 10, 2012
The Little Dipper twirls around the northern sky every night of the year. Tonight, the bowl dangles below the handle at nightfall, and stands above the handle at first light.
February 11, 2012
Two bright companions snuggle close to the gibbous Moon late tonight. As they climb into good view around midnight, the star Spica is close to the lower left of the Moon, with the planet Saturn farther to the lower left of Spica. All three will be high in the sky at first light.
February 12, 2012
The twins of Gemini stand high in the east as darkness falls on February nights: the stars Pollux and Castor. Pollux is the brighter of the two, and has a slight orange tint. The twins soar high overhead in late evening.
February 13, 2012
The beautiful outline of Cassiopeia, the queen, stands high in the north-northwest this evening. Although the constellation doesn’t look much like a queen, it is fairly easy to find because its brightest stars form a large letter M or W.
February 14, 2012
Look for Antares, the brightest star of the constellation Scorpius, standing a little below the Moon at first light tomorrow. It shines bright orange, indicating that its surface is thousands of degrees cooler than the surface of the Sun.
February 15, 2012
The lights of our galactic home, the Milky Way, arch high overhead on February evenings. As the sky gets dark, the Milky Way stretches from southeast to northwest, through the point directly overhead. It’s quite faint, though, so you need dark skies to see it.
February 16, 2012
The V-shaped face of Taurus, the bull, is high in the sky this evening, with the bull’s horns to the east. The star at the tip of the top horn is known as El Nath. In that direction, we are looking toward the thinly populated regions of the outer galaxy.
Check last week's tips if you missed a day.
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