In the Sky This Month

The Big Dipper is in the northeast at nightfall, standing on its handle. The Little Dipper is to the left. Its bowl hangs below the handle, which ends at Polaris, the North Star.

Orion’s Belt, a line of three bright stars, is high in the south this evening. It points to the lower left toward Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Procyon is far to the left of the belt. Sirius and Procyon are the brightest stars of the big and little dogs.

Aldebaran, the star that marks the eye of Taurus, the bull, stands below the Moon this evening. It shines brightly even through the lunar glare. It is the 14th-brightest star system in the night sky, so it’s always easy to spot.

Mercury, Saturn, and Jupiter form a tight triangle in the dawn sky for the next few days. Unfortunately, they’re quite low, so they’re tough to see. The view is better as you go farther south. The planets are in the east-southeast as the sky brightens.

Mars teams up with the Moon tonight. The planet looks like a bright orange star. It stands close to the upper right of the Moon as darkness falls.

Navi is the middle star in the “M” that outlines Cassiopeia. The crew of the first planned Apollo mission named three stars after themselves. Navi was the middle name of Gus Ivan Grissom spelled backwards. When the astronauts died in a fire, the names stuck.

Capella, the brightest star of Auriga, the charioteer, stands high overhead at nightfall. Capella is one of the brighter stars in the night sky, so it’s easy to spot. It shines with a yellow-orange hue.

One of the reddest stars in the galaxy bounds across the south on February evenings, in the constellation Lepus, the hare. Its primary name is R Leporis, but it’s better known as Hind’s Crimson Star for the astronomer who discovered it.

Leo Minor, the little lion, represents a cub of Leo. Leo Minor is near Leo, which is low in the eastern sky in early evening. Leo Minor stands to the upper left of Leo’s head and mane, which form a hook, with the bright star Regulus at its bottom.

Cancer, the crab, is a third of the way up the eastern sky at nightfall. It’s about halfway between the bright star Regulus, which is low in the east at that hour, and the twins of Gemini, which are high above Regulus.