In the Sky This Month

The Moon is closest to Earth for its current orbit today, a point known as perigee. The Moon will be full on March 1, so the combination of perigee and an almost-full Moon will produce above-average tides.

An obscure cat known as Lynx pads high across the sky at this time of year. It stands high in the north-northeast in early to mid evening, about half way between the outer stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper and the bright twins of Gemini.

The constellation Monoceros is well up in the southeast in early evening, between the bright stars Procyon and Betelgeuse. A telescope reveals that the unicorn’s second-brightest star actually consists of three stars, all of which shine blue-white.

The planet Venus, the brilliant “evening star,” is returning to view. It is quite low in the west at sunset, so any trees or buildings along the horizon will block it from view. If you have a clear horizon, though, you may be able to pick it out.

The bright orange star Aldebaran, which marks the eye of Taurus, the bull, stands to the lower right of the Moon as night falls and leads the Moon down the western sky later on. The star is about 65 light-years from Earth.

The Moon will reach its first-quarter phase tonight, as sunlight illuminates half of the lunar hemisphere that faces Earth. The illuminated fraction will grow larger each day until the Moon is full on March 1.

Canis Major, the big dog, is in the southeast as night falls. The constellation’s third-brightest star, Wezen, is one of the biggest, brightest stars in our part of the galaxy. It’s also one of the youngest, at an age of just 10 million years.

The constellation Canis Major, the big dog, is best known for its leading light: Sirius, the Dog Star, the brightest star in the night sky. It stands a third of the way up the southeastern sky at nightfall.

Three constellations in view this month are named for early machines: Sextans, Antlia, and Pyxis — the sextant, air pump, and magnetic compass. Sextans is low in the east in early evening, with Antlia and Pyxis climbing into the south and southeast.

Columba, the dove, scoots low across the south tonight, to the lower right of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. The constellation marks the opposite direction from the motion of the solar system as it orbits the center of the galaxy.