February skies

- By James Edgar

January 29, 2026

key points from this story:

• Full Moon occurs on February 1
• Regulus and Antares experience occultations
• Pluto occultation challenges observers
• Annular solar eclipse on February 17
• Jupiter visible all night during retrograde
• Zodiacal light visible early in month

The Moon is full on February 1 and also just over 1 degree north of the Beehive Cluster (M44). Regulus, the bright star in Leo, The Lion, is occulted on the 4th for most of North America. For viewers outside the occultation zone, the star will be within half a degree of the full Moon. Spica, the bright star in Virgo, The Maiden, will be 1.8 degrees north of the waning gibbous Moon on the 7th. This occurs very early in the morning, with moonrise shortly after 1:30. The Moon is at last quarter on the 9th–look for it in the daytime sky until around noon. Apogee occurs with the Moon at its farthest distance from Earth, on February 10, at a distance of 404,576 km. That same day, Antares is occulted in the Southern Hemisphere; a close 0.7-degree separation in the north. For those seeking a challenge, Pluto is occulted by the crescent Moon for most of North America on the 15th. This occurs just before sunrise, so much planning is required just to identify the tiny object in the days ahead and then track the Moon’s progress in the morning twilight–in eastern North America, it rises just before the occultation; for central and western regions, the occultation is half over at moonrise. A true challenge! The Moon is new on the 17th, which also generates an annular solar eclipse for the extreme Southern Hemisphere. On the 19th, Saturn and the thin crescent Moon descend together in the western twilight, separated by 5 degrees. The Moon passes by or through the Pleiades (M45) on a regular basis. This month, the 1st-quarter Moon is among those Seven Sisters on the 23rd; also at perigee on that day, closest to Earth in its orbit at 370,135 km. The Moon is 4 degrees north of Jupiter on the 27th. At month-end, the Beehive Cluster gets another visit by the nearly full Moon.

Mercury presents a brief apparition for northern viewers from the 7th until the 22nd–always elusive in the western evening twilight.

Venus is too close to the Sun to be seen until mid-month. Then it begins a lengthy session as the Evening Star, dancing with Mercury rising then falling in its speedy orbit. The thin crescent Moon passes by on the 17th/18th.

Mars is too close to the Sun to be seen.

Jupiter has been retrograding in the southeast, becoming visible among the stars of Gemini at sunset. It appears to be moving westward against the background stars, a phenomenon that puzzled ancient astronomers. They imagined the Earth to be the centre of the Universe, not realizing that Earth and all the other planets orbit the Sun. So retrograde motion is a result of Earth orbiting faster than the outer planets, so they appear to move backward. Take advantage of the giant planet being visible all through the night–it’s an excellent time to track the Galilean moons as they orbit Jupiter. Two of the moons cast their shadows on Jupiter’s cloud tops on the 12th. Jupiter is 4 degrees south of the Moon on the 27th.

Saturn rises during the day, presenting a cream coloured dot for a couple of hours after sunset. Neptune is about 1 degree north of the ringed planet on the 15th. Saturn becomes lost in the Sun’s glare by the end of the month.

Uranus has been retrograding among the stars of Taurus, The Bull, but becomes stationary on the 4th. The blue-green planet crosses the sky during the day, appearing after sunset in the south.

Neptune and Saturn remain together among the stars of Pisces, The Fish. See Saturn above.

The zodiacal light is visible in northern latitudes in the west after evening twilight for the first two weeks of February.