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.Events .Moon .Planets .Minor Planets, NEOs .Comets .Shooting Stars .Occultations .Sun .check more! (occultations observers are advised to check in 'Events', and to turn to such dedicated sites like the I.O.T.A). don't forget to check the weather! For the US: the NOAA . color codes: Wwd worldwide, UsA USA-Americas, EuA Europe-Africa, AsP Asia-Pacific, Chk Check for Your Zone. check the site's concept and the instructions of use
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color codes: Wwd worldwide, UsA USA-Americas, EuA Europe-Africa, AsP Asia-Pacific, Chk Check for Your Zone. check the site's concept and the instructions of use
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Events Home Page.Events Seen All Month Long .Ephemerides Proper
(data from the former yearly ephemerides generator at Fred Espenak's NASA's eclipse website; miscellaneous data with the 'Astronomical Phenomena for The Year 2018,' a joint work by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office and the U.S. Naval Observatory; to be found at the latter's site; all time UT except otherwise stated)
Venus on his track downwards is closing to Saturn in the morning sky worldwide Feb. 12-24 with a closest Feb. 18. Fine visual or photographic opportunities as Moon will also come to add, or that double star Albaldah of Sagittarius, the Archer is in the field at the closest!
 | A closest between Venus and Saturn like morning stars, is reached by Feb. 18! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium |
Wwd Fine constellations are seen South, at the Tropics by dawn. Fine views!
morning of Feb. 1 EuA AsP Very last crescent by all latitudes, is seen about Venus in the morning twilight as Saturn is not that far -- or reciprocally! Fine visual and photographic opportunities!
 | Moon close to Venus by dawn! Fine visual or photographic opportunities! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium |
1 Wwd Tomorrow morning by dawn by all latitudes, very last crescent is seen very close to Saturn! Fine visual and photographic opportunities!
 | Moon close to Saturn by dawn! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium |
2 (1) Wwd Moon reaches a southernmost declination at 00:48 UT
2 (2) Wwd There is a occultation of Saturn today by Moon! check more at Occultations below
2 (3) Wwd There is a occultation of Pluto today by Moon! check more at Occultations below
3 Wwd Moon is at a descending node at 06:35 UT
5 Wwd Moon is at its apogee at 09:26 UT (distances non available)
6 Wwd There is a occultation of minor planet Vesta today by Moon! check more at Occultations below
10 Wwd First quartered Moon at all latitudes, is seen close to Mars by twilight, a fine show! The show is also seen tomorrow in the Asia-Pacific area
13 Wwd First quartered Moon at all latitudes, is seen close to Aldebaran tonight, the bright star to constellation Taurus, the Bull. A fine show! The show is slightly distended in the Asia-Pacific area and is also seen tomorrow there
 | Moon close to Aldebaran tonight, the bright star to constellation Taurus, the Bull! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium |
16 Wwd Moon reaches a northernmost declination at 09:56 UT
17 Wwd Moon is at a ascending node at 09:42 UT
19 Wwd Moon is at its perigee at 09:06 UT (distances non available)
26 UsA EuA Tomorrow morning, Last Quarter by all latitudes, is seen close to Jupiter by dawn. Fine visual and photographic opportunities!
 | Moon close to Jupiter by dawn! Fine visual or photographic opportunities! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium |
27 AsP Tomorrow morning, last quartered Moon at all latitudes, is seen close to Jupiter by dawn. Fine visual and photographic opportunities!
Occultations observers are advised to turn to such dedicated sites like the I.O.T.A as they may also check below at our Occultation section
Moon Home PageNew Moon is on February 4th, at 21:04 UT
First Quarter is on February 12th, at 22:26 UT
Full Moon is on February 19th, at 15:53 UT
Last Quarter is on February 26th, at 11:28 UT
(source: Ephemeris generator at Fred Espenak's NASA's eclipse website)
Planets Home Pagefor what a remarkable configuration of a planet is, check our tutorial 'Planets Apparent Motion'
Mercury is reaching a greatest eastern elongation on Feb. 27th, at 00:59 UT. Mercury, after mid-month only, will display a fine show like a evening star in the northern hemisphere, a low one at the Tropics, and null in the southern hemisphere
 | Mercury's show in twilight in the northern hemisphere! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium |
Venus is a morning star worldwide, and lower in the northern hemisphere
 | Morning views by February! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium |
Mars is now back to 6" of apparent diameter, a value afficionados deem the least observable as that marks the end of the Mars Observation Campaign 2018-2019. check more at our Mars Observation Campaign 2018-2019 page. Mars is a high evening star worldwide, and barely lower in the southern hemisphere on the other hand
 | Evening views by the evening twilight in February! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium |
Jupiter is a fine morning star worldwide
Saturn after its conjunction last January, is reappearing enough like a low morning star worldwide as it's much higher at the Tropics or the southern hemisphere. Following a ring aperture maximum, rings now are closing
Uranus keeps observable worldwide due to a early twilight in the northern hemisphere and the Tropics as it is less true in the southern hemisphere
Neptune is heading to its conjunction next March as it unobservable worldwide
Pluto, after a conjunction last month, is unobservable in the northern hemisphere, tending to barely to be at the Tropics or the southern hemisphere (according to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) since 2006, Pluto is not considered a planet anymore, but categorized like a dwarf planet instead along with Ceres, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea, and the prototype of a new category of 'trans-Neptunian', 'Pluto-class' objects)
Minor Planets, NEOs Home Page
Minor PlanetsMinor planets are those biggest asteroids in the Asteroid Belt which may be easily observed by amateurs from the Earth, namely Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta (due to the new categorization by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) by 2006, Ceres belongs to the 5 dwarf planets in the solar system with Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea). check data and charts at our section Minor Planets on the yearly Calendar page as our tutorial 'Asteroids and Asteroid Hunting' is of help too. Any remarkable event linked to a minor planet may have a notice here below
Nearest NEOsSome small asteroids dubbed Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are regularly making close approaches at Earth. People interested in such close approaches may obtain recent and upcoming data at NASA site Near-Earth Object Program (their section "Close Approaches"). Date, miss distance in AU or Lunar Distance (LD), estimated diameter, and relative velocity are available. For further observational purposes, check at the Near-Earth Object Program ephemeris Generator. For more about NEOs see tutorial "
Comets Home PageOnce every time, the solar system treats us with a remarkable comet, a eery view spanning up to thirty degrees of sky! Most of the time however comets are the domain of dedicated observers as mostly weak and, at the most, hovering at the limit of the naked-eye visibility. A good site to get information about current such comets is the British Astronomical Association Comet Section page or also the Weekly Information about Bright Comets page (which often points to comets close to the visual magnitude). Our 'Comets and Comet Hunting' tutorial will also be helpful. Remarkable comets otherwise usually will be presented below!
Shooting Stars Home Page->note: shooting stars afficionados will be aware of checking Moon at the dates of the showers
for more about the meteor showers of this month, for possible other meteor showers for this month, and for more about shooting stars, generally, see our tutorial "Shooting Stars"
Occultations Home PageEach month, Moon occults some relatively bright stars, that is the Moon, beginning either with its bright or its dark visible face, is passing in front of a star. This is called an occultation. The Pleiades, on the other hand, due to their position near the eclipic, are often occulted by Moon too. Some planets, at last, along the year, may be occulted by Moon or they themselves, or their satellites, may be seen too occulting a star. The asteroids too may occult stars. Yearly lists of such phenomenons are to be found at Sky & Telescope/SkyTonight.com, either in their newsstand issues or at their site, as a list of occultations of most brilliant stars, the planets and the Pleiades are available at the I.O.T.A site (I.O.T.A. stands for "The International Occultation Timing Association"). The configuration of Moon makes 2019 a great year of occultations of planets and minor planets by the Moon as, amazingly none of the bright stars usually occulted by Moon, like Aldebaran, Antares, Regulus or Spica, will be! Most notable occultations are signaled below
Saturn back is occulted by Moon on Feb. 2th, 2019 by 07:00 UT! The show is available for N. and N.E. Africa, S. and central Europe, Middle East, W. Asia, parts of S. Russia. check more at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)
Pluto back is occulted by Moon on Feb. 2th, 2019 by 20:00 UT! The show is available for Micronesia, Hawaii, Aleutian Is., W. and central North America (except Alaska). check more at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)
Minor planet Vesta back is occulted by Moon on Feb. 6th, 2019 by 08:00 UT! The show is available for parts of western Russia only. check more at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)
check on this site for more about occultations, theoretically
Sun Home Page| CAUTION! OBSERVING THE SUN IS DANGEROUS AND REQUIRES DEDICATED SAFE TECHNIQUES! |
