Astronomy Highlights: What's Visible in the February Night Sky

What to see in the night sky during February including Moon phases, planet guide, meteor showers and deeps space objects.

On February 22 at 09:01 GMT Venus-Mars will pass very close to each other, separated by less than one degree - 0°36'. Viewing isn't ideal for northern observers. Mars and Venus will be visible early in the morning, before the Sun rises. The planets will be near the south-eastern horizon, and sunlight may outshine Mars.

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.

In this table, the observation month represents the month in which the object reaches its highest point in the sky. It can also be viewed a few months before and after depending on your location. Direction is the compass direction in which the object is located, with Z meaning Zenith or overhead.

#	Image	Common Name	Constellation	Coords	Direction	Mag	Size (arcmin)	Type	Star Chart
M1 NGC 1952		The Crab Nebula	Taurus	05h 34.5m RA 22° 01m Dec	S/SW	8.40	4	Supernova Remnant	🔍︎
M40		Winnecke 4	Ursa Major	12h 22.4m RA 58° 05m Dec	N	9.60	0.86	Double Star	🔍︎
M41 NGC 2287		Little Beehive Cluster	Canis Major	06h 47.0m RA -20° 44m Dec	S	4.50	38	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M44 NGC 2632		Praesepe	Cancer	08h 40.1m RA 19° 59m Dec	S	3.70	95	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M46 NGC 2437			Puppis	07h 41.8m RA -14° 49m Dec	S	6.10	27	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M47 NGC 2422			Puppis	07h 36.6m RA -14° 30m Dec	S	4.20	30	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M48 NGC 2548		Starfish Cluster	Hydra	08h 13.8m RA -05° 48m Dec	S	7.40	20	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M50 NGC 2323		Heart-Shaped Cluster	Monoceros	07h 03.2m RA -08° 20m Dec	S	5.90	16	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M51 NGC 5194		The Whirlpool Galaxy	Canes Venatici	13h 29.9m RA 47° 12m Dec	NE	8.40	11x7	Galaxy	🔍︎
M67 NGC 2682		Golden-Eye Cluster (Pac-Man Cluster)	Cancer	08h 50.4m RA 11° 49m Dec	S	6.10	30	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M93 C71 NGC 2447		Butterfly Cluster	Puppis	07h 44.6m RA -23° 52m Dec	S	5.80	22	Open Cluster	🔍︎
M97 NGC 3587		The Owl Nebula	Ursa Major	11h 14.8m RA 55° 01m Dec	Z	9.90	3.3x3.4	Planetary Nebula	🔍︎
M98 NGC 4192			Coma Berenices	12h 13.8m RA 14° 54m Dec	SE	11.00	9.8*2.8	Galaxy	🔍︎
M99 NGC 4254		Coma Pinwheel Galaxy	Coma Berenices	12h 18.8m RA 14° 25m Dec	SE	10.40	5.4x4.7	Galaxy	🔍︎
M100 NGC 4321		Blowdryer Galaxy (Mirror Galaxy)	Coma Berenices	12h 22.9m RA 15° 49m Dec	SE	10.10	7.4x6.3	Galaxy	🔍︎