What to see in February Night Sky (2022)What to see in February Night Sky including Moon phases, planets, conjunctions and spring time Deep Space Objects The Beehive Cluster and Leo Triplet.
February Moon Phases
February's Full Moon is named for the snowy weather in the Northern hemisphere and the full moon is called the Snow Moon. Storm Moon and hunger moon are other common names.
Full Moon and New Moon for February 2022
February 2022 New MoonTue 1st Feb
February 2022 First QuarterWed 9th Feb
February 2022 Full MoonThu 17th Feb
February 2022 Last QuarterThu 24th Feb
February Planets
Mercury will be visible in the evening sky from mid-February to early March, and dim in the morning from late March to early May. Best seen just before mid-month.
Venus is always brilliant, shining with a steady, silvery light. Mornings in the eastern sky at dawn from early January through to mid-June.
Mars is visible in the night sky from January to mid-July, then shifts to the morning sky from mid-Oct to the end of December.
Get up early on the mornings between the 27th and 1st of April to see Venus, Mars and Saturn together in the same binocular field of view, with the crescent moon below them.
Jupiter will be visible in the mornings from January to May, evenings from May to November, and mornings again from mid-December to the end of December.
Saturn is visible in the mornings from late January to early July, and then in the evenings from July to December.
February Meteor Showers
There are no notable meteor showers in February.
February Deep Space Objects
Winter constellations start to set and make way for the spring constellations. Cancer and Leo are rising in the east and make good spring targets for DSO hunters.
February and March are good times to observe the Beehive cluster (M44) in Cancer as it will be high in the sky. It is visible with the naked eye from a dark site, and a superb star cluster to observe in a small telescope.
February and March is also prime time for the Leo triplet of galaxies. Sitting about halfway between the stars Chertan and Iota Leonis, the three galaxies are a sight to behold as they all fit within the field of view of a small telescope.
If you're just beginning to observe galaxies then Messier M81 - Bode's Galaxy, and Messier M82 - Cigar Galaxy - in the constellation of Ursa Major are a nice bright pair to track down. They are located very close to one another, about 2° east of the star 24 Ursae Majoris.
