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Each Monday I pick out the northern hemisphere’s celestial highlights (mid-northern latitudes) for the week ahead, but be sure to check my main feed for more in-depth articles on stargazing, astronomy, eclipses and more.
What To See In The Night Sky This Week: February 20-26, 2023
This week’s main attraction is a dance of the two brightest planets of all, Jupiter and Venus, low on the western horizon right after dark. Not only are they worth looking at with naked eyes as they appear to inch closer to each other, but this week they will be joined by one of the most beautiful sights in nature—a crescent Moon.
Monday, February 20, 2023: New Moon
Today our satellite is directly between the Sun and the Earth. It’s invisible because it’s both lost in the Sun’s glare and because its illuminated side is facing away from us.
As always, this New Moon marks the start of a new lunar cycle. For stargazers, it comes with a bonus because it leaves the nights bereft of moonlight, so dark enough to easily observe stars, constellations and faint deep-sky objects such as galaxies and nebulae.
Tuesday, February 21, 2023: Jupiter, Venus and the crescent Moon
Look to the southwest immediately after sunset tonight and you’ll see a 4%-lit crescent Moon below Venus and Jupiter, which are separated by about 10º. It’s not a conjunction, just a lovely post-sunset tableau of solar system objects.
Wednesday, February 22, 2023: Jupiter and a crescent moon
Tonight a 10%-lit crescent Moon will be right beside Jupiter, arguably topping last night’s beautiful view.
Thursday, February 23, 2023: Moon, Jupiter and Venus align
This week’s celestial dance of is a gift that keeps on giving because tonight the three solar system bodies will align again, this time with a 17%-lit crescent Moon—by now displaying beautiful reflected light from Earth on its dark limb—shining ablove Jupiter and Venus. Again, look west soon after sunset.
Sunday, February 26, 2023: Moon and Pleiades
Tonight an almost 50%-lit Moon approaching its First Quarter phase will be seen very close to the sparkling open cluster of stars, the Pleiades. Close by will be the red planet Mars.
Constellation of the week: Andromeda
This faint constellation near Cassiopeia and is visible in the evening from late September through May, but in February is already sliding towards the western horizon after dark. Represented by a princess and easily identifiable by the bright star Alpheratz, which marks her head, it’s mostly known for what it contains—the Andromeda Galaxy, a spiral galaxy located about 2.5 million light-years from Earth.
Object of the week: Andromeda galaxy (M31)
The nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy—also known as M31—is the farthest thing anyone can see with the naked eye, though you’ll need to be under a dark rural sky to glimpse it as a faint and diffuse patch of light. However, if you have binoculars you can see it from almost anywhere. To find it, locate the bright star Alpheratz in the northwestern sky after dark, go two stars up to Mirach. It’s a third of the way (and just below) along an imaginary line from Mirach to the W-shaped constellation of Cassiopeia (the lower “V” of Cassiopeia points to Mirach.
Times and dates given apply to mid-northern latitudes. For the most accurate location-specific information consult online planetariums like Stellarium and The Sky Live. Check planet-rise/planet-set, sunrise/sunset and moonrise/moonset times for where you are.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
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