Evenings in February 2025 present us with a striking lineup of bright planets, and chances to attain sightings of all the planets of our solar system before the month’s end.
In order of brightness and position in the lineup from west to east an hour after sundown during February, the three brightest planets are Venus, of magnitude -4.8 to -4.9, as bright as it ever gets, in the west-southwest, sinking lower toward the west as month progresses; Jupiter, magnitude -2.5 to -2.3, near Aldebaran and the Hyades cluster, high and crossing from east-southeast into the southwest; and Mars, magnitude -1.1 to -0.3, near the “Twin” stars Pollux and Castor, climbing higher in east.
Of the stars, only the Dog Star Sirius, magnitude -1.4 in the southeast to south-southeast, outshines one of these planets, Mars. You can discern stars apart from planets, because stars appear to twinkle noticeably, in contrast to the usually steady aspect of planets, which present disks when seen with a telescope. The disks, though too tiny to be resolved with unaided eye, are big enough to mute the scintillation caused by Earth’s atmosphere. Also, Sirius is well below the plane of the solar system, and so will appear far south of the planetary lineup!
The other planets easy to see with the naked eye are Saturn, of magnitude +1.1, 11° to 22° below and a little to the left of Venus, but sinking into an ever-brighter twilight glow in last 10 days of month; and innermost Mercury, emerging from its Feb. 9 superior conjunction on far side of the sun to become visible far below Venus and to the lower right of Saturn around Feb. 20. From Feb. 20-28, Mercury shines at magnitude -1.3 to -1.0, but for its first evenings, you’ll appreciate binoculars, a very clear sky and an unobstructed view of the horizon below Venus 30-35 minutes after sunset. Mercury gets higher in twilight each evening until reaching greatest angular distance from the sun on March 7, so it becomes easy for the unaided eye in deeper twilight in February’s final week. Look for Mercury 28° below Venus on Feb. 20, and 1.5° closer each evening, to 22° below Venus on Feb. 24. In the same span of dates, fainter Saturn can be seen 7.6° to 1.5° to the upper left of bright Mercury. Feb. 24, the date of the closest pairing of Mercury and Saturn, is best for seeing both on the same night, giving you a chance to see all five naked-eye planets simultaneously.
The two faint outermost planets—Uranus, of magnitude 5.7, 8° southwest of the Pleiades cluster, and Neptune, of magnitude 7.9—can be spotted with optical aid. Uranus is easy for binoculars. For Neptune, use at least a 50-mm aperture. Neptune is very low at nightfall late in the month, so look right at the end of twilight from Feb. 1-4, before the moon gets bright, or Feb. 14-20, after the moon is past full and not yet up at nightfall.
Binocular and telescopic views: Venus ranges from 45° to the upper left of the setting sun on Feb. 1, to 30° above it on March 1, as it grows from 32” to 50” (arcseconds) in apparent diameter, while displaying a crescent 37% to 14% illuminated. On both those dates, Venus will appear near a crescent moon in the afternoon sky, which can help you locate the planet in the daytime. At greatest brilliancy on Feb. 18 and 19, Venus’ 42” disk is 24% to 23% illuminated. Locate Venus in the daytime or immediately after sunset any day through inferior conjunction on March 22, and binoculars will reveal the crescent, thinning by then to 1 percent full and 59.5” across, while 8.4° to the upper right of setting sun on March 22. Be sure to avoid getting the sun in your field of view whenever you search for Venus in the daytime.
Look for Saturn early this month, before it sinks too low in the west. On Feb. 1, Saturn passes 0.9° south of a 4.2-magnitude star Phi in Aquarius. The rings are tipped 2.8° from edge-on, and appear through a telescope as a narrow needle 36” long, piercing the ball of the planet, 16” across. Saturn’s largest moon, 8.5-magnitude Titan, is often visible, in the same plane as the rings, and never more than four ring lengths from the nearer ring edge. By Feb. 16, the rings are only 2° from edgewise.
Aim binoculars toward Jupiter, and just more than 5° away, you’ll spot a bright, orange-red star 67 light-years distant: Aldebaran, eye of Taurus the Bull and Follower of the Pleiades. Jupiter ends retrograde on Feb. 3 and lingers near that star all month. In the same field as Aldebaran, you’ll notice a cluster of stars more than twice as far away, called the Hyades. Follow Orion’s belt upward nearly 14° past Aldebaran, and you’ll find the beautiful, compact Pleiades star cluster, nearly 450 light-years away. Through a telescope, Jupiter’s four biggest moons, discovered by Galileo in 1610, appear much brighter than Titan. Of them, Ganymede and Callisto are each larger than the planet Mercury. Io is slightly larger than Earth’s moon, and only Europa is smaller. Watch them change positions from hour to hour and from night to night as they complete revolutions around Jupiter in periods ranging from 1.8 to 17 days. Look also for the planet’s two dark equatorial cloud belts.
At the eastern end of the lineup of planets is the third in brightness, distinctively red Mars. Retrograding in Gemini until Feb. 23, Mars gradually changes its configurations with the constellation’s two brightest stars, Pollux and Castor. In February, watch for the formation of an isosceles triangle with Pollux at the vertex, each leg 4.5° long. Watch for the another nearly isosceles triangle, this time with Mars at the vertex, with legs not quite equal, each just more than 7° in length.
As spring progresses in Mars’ northern hemisphere, use a telescope magnifying at least 100x to follow Mars’ now prominent north polar cap, shrinking until its summer solstice on May 29. Also look for Syrtis Major, Mars’ historic prominent dark marking, best seen near the center of the planet’s disk on the following dates: Feb. 2 at 12:24 a.m.; Feb. 3 at 1 a.m.; Feb. 4 at 1:37 a.m.; Feb. 5 at 2:13 a.m.; and Feb. 6 at 2:50 a.m. Another series with Mars well up in the sky begins on March 3 at 6:17 p.m.; March 4 at 6:55 p.m.; and 38 minutes later nightly for nine more nights through night of March 13-14.
Follow the moon: The moon is above the horizon one hour after sunset each evening from Jan. 30-Feb. 12, and can be spotted again about 40 minutes after sunset on Feb. 28.
In Reno on Feb. 1, the moon, a 15 percent crescent, passes directly south, 49° up, at 3:05 p.m. Venus is then 2.6° to the upper right of the center of the moon’s disk, or nearly 2.4° to the upper right of its limb. Binoculars and telescopes show Venus’ 37 percent crescent, 33 arcseconds in diameter. The closest separation of Venus and the crescent moon that day occurs at 4:19 p.m., when Venus is 2.3° to the upper right of the moon’s northern cusp. That evening at 6:36 p.m. (76 minutes after sunset), Venus is 2.5° to the lower right of the moon’s bright limb, with Saturn 11°-12° below them. With binoculars, look 4° to 8° lower left of Venus for a dipper-shaped asterism of six stars of magnitude 4.4 to 5.9.
Look for Syrtis Major, Mars’ historic prominent dark marking, best seen near the center of the planet’s disk on Feb. 2-6.
On Feb. 2 an hour after sunset, find Venus 15° to the moon’s lower right, and Saturn 12° below Venus. Now that the moon has moved out of the field, you can get a better look at the six-star dipper to lower left of Venus and revisit Neptune. There’s a star, HIP 117881, of magnitude 7.6, 1.85° to the east-northeast (upper left) of a star called 20 Psc. On Feb. 12, bluish Neptune will pass less than 1 arcminute south-southeast of the orange-colored star, and will provide an interesting contrast. At high magnification, Neptune will show a disk, 2.2 arcseconds in diameter, and the star will not. Later tonight, Mars will be 4.5° from Pollux. Since Pollux is 4.5° from Castor, the three objects will form an isosceles triangle, with Pollux at the vertex. Check the triangle’s shape again on coming nights.
Feb. 3, one hour after sunset: Jupiter, ending retrograde, lingers 5.1° from Aldebaran for the rest of this week. By month’s end, the planet will shift only 1° east from tonight’s position.
Feb. 4, evening: The moon will appear half-full later tonight. First quarter, when the moon is 90° or one-quarter of a circle east of the sun, occurs at 12:02 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Feb. 5.
Feb. 5, evening: Watch the moon approach the Pleiades and cover some of its stars late this evening. These disappearances are best seen through a telescope. From Reno, the leading dark edge of the moon covers stars at 11:15 p.m., 11:48 p.m., 12:27 a.m., and 1:21 a.m. Beware of mountains to your west that might block some of these events from your view!
Feb. 6, afternoon and evening: If the sky is clear and deep blue, use binoculars and try to spot Jupiter when the moon passes closest to it between 3 and 3:30 p.m. Look for Jupiter 5° to the south (lower right) of the moon. In the evening, the moon is 5° north of Jupiter and 10° north of Aldebaran.
Feb. 7, evening: Find the 79% waxing gibbous moon very high in the east one hour after sunset, with Jupiter 15° to its upper right, and Mars 23° to its lower left. Just 2.5° to the moon’s upper right is 1.7-magnitude Elnath, or Beta Tauri, the tip of the Bull’s northern horn.
Feb. 8, evening: Mars is 9° to the lower left of 87% moon, with Pollux and Castor nearby.
Feb. 9 at dusk: Enjoy a close grouping of the moon (93%), Mars, Pollux and Castor.
Feb. 10 at dusk: Mars is 18° to the lower left of 98% moon. Keep watching the triangle formed by Mars, Pollux and Castor.
Feb. 11 at dusk: Regulus, heart of Leo, the Lion, is 12° below the moon.
Feb. 12 at 5:53 a.m.: The moon is full. One hour before sunrise, note Regulus 7° to the upper left of the moon. One hour after sunset, find Regulus 2° to the upper right of the moon. Regulus will be at opposition to the sun on Feb. 18.
Feb. 13 at dawn: Regulus is 6° to the lower right of the moon.
Feb. 14 at nightfall: Follow the long-period variable star Mira in Cetus through its expected peak brightness in mid-March. Aldebaran and the Hyades cluster make a V-shaped arrowhead pointing the way through Alpha Ceti (magnitude 2.5) and Delta Ceti (magnitude 4.1), 7° apart, and another 6° farther beyond Delta in the same direction to Mira.
Feb. 15 at nightfall: If you want to see all the planets in February, time is running out to see Neptune. It’s now within 31° of the sun, getting 1° closer each night. At end of twilight, it’s only 12° up. Look 10.5° to the lower left of Venus.
Feb. 16, one hour before sunrise: Spica is 12° to the upper left of the 86% waning gibbous moon.
Predawn, Feb. 17: Spica is within 0.7° of the northern limb of the moon, at 3:16 a.m. in Reno. Use optical aid, or block the moon to see the star. They’re still very close at dawn.
Feb. 18 at dawn: Spica is 12° to the right of the 70% moon. Antares is 34° to the moon’s lower left. Arcturus is high in the southwest, with the Summer Triangle of Vega, Deneb and Altair in the east.
Feb. 20 at dawn: The moon is approaching last quarter phase, half full, in the south. Antares, heart of the Scorpion, is within 10° to the lower left.
Early dusk with binoculars: Start looking for Mercury, 28° below Venus. Faint Saturn is within 8° to the upper left of Mercury, with Jupiter south of overhead. Mars is high in the east, forming a nearly isosceles triangle with the Twins Feb. 20 and 21. Five planets! Mercury gets easier each evening, Saturn harder.
Feb. 21, at dawn: The moon, a 42% crescent, is in the south-southeast to south. Antares is within 3° to the upper right.
Early dusk: Mercury is 26° below Venus. Saturn is within 6° to the upper left of Mercury.
Feb. 22, one hour before sunrise: The southernmost moon, a 33% crescent, is low in the south-southeast. The Teapot of Sagittarius is to its lower left.
Early dusk: Mercury is 25° below Venus, with faint Saturn 4° to the upper left of Mercury.
Feb. 23, dawn: The moon is in the Teapot.
Dusk: Mercury is 23° below Venus, with Saturn 2.7° to the upper left of Mercury. Mars ends retrograde.
Feb. 24, dusk: The Mercury-Saturn pair is within 22° below Venus. Use binoculars for faint Saturn, 1.5° to the upper left of Mercury. Most difficult to see is Neptune, 9° to the upper left of Mercury-Saturn. Uranus is 8° southwest of Pleiades, and Jupiter is 5.4° from Aldebaran. (Compare to the separation of the Pointer Stars in bowl of Big Dipper.) Mars is 7.2°-7.4° from the Twins. In order from west to east are Mercury, Saturn, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter and Mars, all spanning 117.5°, plus Earth under your feet—all eight known planets of our solar system! How many can you see?
Feb. 25, dawn: The last easy chance to see the moon this cycle, 8%, low in the east-southeast to southeast.
Dusk: Now Saturn is 1.8° to the lower left of Mercury, and the order of planets from west to east is Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter, Mars, spanning 116.8°. But Saturn and Neptune are challenging targets, indeed.
Feb. 26 at dusk: Mercury is 19° to the lower left below Venus, while Saturn is 3° to the lower left of Mercury. The span of planets, Saturn to Mars, is 116.7°. Mercury is now easy to see, but Saturn is not. The span of the four easy naked-eye planets, Mercury-Venus-Jupiter-Mars, is 114°.
Feb. 27 at dusk: Venus has been slowing down its eastward motion, and will begin retrograde on March 1. Venus is no longer closing in on Jupiter, and today, they reach their minimum separation, 62° apart in the evening sky. The new moon occurs today at 4:45 p.m.
Feb. 28 at sunset and dusk: Remember to get out to look for Venus, 31° to the upper right of the setting sun just before sunset, and for a short while afterward, while the sky is still bright. Binoculars will then easily resolve the planet’s crescent, 15 percent full and 49” (arcseconds) across. As the sky gets darker, look for Mercury 16° to the lower left of Venus, and 2° to the upper right of a beautiful, slender 2 percent crescent moon.
These events, and other gatherings of the moon, planets and stars, are illustrated on the Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar. For $12 per year, subscribers receive quarterly mailings, each containing three monthly issues; learn more at www.abramsplanetarium.org/skycalendar.
Robert Victor originated the Abrams Planetarium monthly Sky Calendar in October 1968 and still helps produce an occasional issue. He enjoys being outdoors sharing the beauty of the night sky and other wonders of nature. Robert Miller, who provided the evening and morning twilight charts, did graduate work in planetarium science, and later astronomy and computer science at Michigan State University, and remains active in research and public outreach in astronomy.
