Jupiter remains in the west southwest as night falls. However, Jupiter gets slightly lower each evening at sunset, until by mid-month it is getting lost in the Sun’s glare. Once it’s gone, we’ll have no evening planets until August. Venus has entered the morning sky this month. Venus outshines everything except the Sun and the […]
Taurus, the Bull is high in the south. Look for the Pleiades star cluster above reddish Aldebaran. Dazzling Orion, the Hunter takes center stage on winter evenings. Surrounding Orion are the brilliant stars of winter. Orion’s belt points down to Sirius, the Dog Star, which outshines all other stars we ever see at night. The […]
This month, Venus shifts from the evening to the morning sky. For the next few days, look for it low in the southwest at dusk. If no buildings or trees block the view, you can still make out Venus in the twilight; it outshines everything in the sky but the Sun and the Moon. Notice […]
Mercury briefly enters the evening sky this month. Greatest elongation (the greatest apparent distance from Sun) is February 16, so that’s when you’ll see it the longest. However, you can begin looking in a few days. Because Mercury sets soon after the Sun, you’ll need a perfectly clear horizon right over the point of sunset […]
