Any clear winter night in February, look due south between 8 and 10 o’clock to spot the large “hourglass” shape of Orion. In its middle three equally bright stars mark the belt around the waist of this hunter.
Use those three stars as a pointer through them down and left to spot Sirius, the brightest star in the sky as seen from Earth, and part of the the constellation Canis Major — Orion’s bigger dog.
Then using the three belt stars as a pointer in the opposite direction will lead our eyes to Taurus the bull, a distinct V-shaped zodiac constellation with a bright star, Aldebaran, of its own.
This whole region around Orion is filled with many bright stars, fully eight of the top 20 brightest stars we can see, making it perhaps the brightest sky of the year.
Though Saturn will begin to move out of sight this month, setting just one hour after sunset by the end of February, it will be close to Mercury on Feb. 24, making a nice conjunction of two planets. Find a good clear view to the western horizon that night and look 30 to 45 minutes after sunset. Saturn will be just left of Mercury, and both will be very close to the horizon.
Venus is hard to miss above both Saturn and Mercury and may be seen for three hours after sunset.
On Feb. 1, look for a slim crescent moon very close to Venus.
Jupiter also is very bright and can be seen all month high in the sky just above Aldebaran.
A waxing crescent moon will appear to form a line with Jupiter and Aldebaran on Feb. 6.
If you have a telescope take the opportunity in the month of February to study Jupiter as often as possible. Views of the giant planet will be rewarding.
Mars in the eastern sky will form a triangle with the top two stars of Gemini, Castor and Pollux on Feb. 1.
Mars itself will be visible all night.
During the month, Mars’ retrograde orbital motion will make it appear to move into the center of Gemini until late in the month, when it will appear to move back up toward Pollux.
This apparent reversal of motion is due to Earth’s faster orbital speed making Mars appear to move “backward” for several weeks. It is a temporary illusion.
In reality, Mars always moves slower than Earth around the sun in an elongated orbit counterclockwise around the sun.
Groundhog Day is on Feb. 2 and has no astronomical significance despite what the groundhog sees, but Feb. 2 does mark the exact midpoint between the winter solstice (Dec. 22) and vernal equinox (first day of spring, March 23). Just a bit of trivia.
February’s full moon is on the 12th.