All through February, a placing gathering of the 5 brightest planets—Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Saturn—together with the extra elusive Uranus and Neptune, would be the essential celestial attraction within the night sky. Later within the month, anybody with a transparent, unobstructed view of the horizon could possibly see all 5 vivid planets stretching throughout the sky. Two of those planets, Mercury and Saturn, will seem particularly shut collectively on Monday, Feb. 24 — the spotlight of this month-long planetary show.
Whereas this planetary alignment is not significantly uncommon, it’s comparatively unusual. Recognizing two, three, and even 4 vivid planets without delay will not be uncommon, however the likelihood to see all 5 collectively would not come round usually. Trying forward, the same alignment will happen in late October 2028, although that occasion will happen earlier than dawn, requiring early risers to catch the view.
For February 2025, nevertheless, all it’s good to do is step exterior at nightfall—an particularly handy viewing time.
The lineup: Venus, the night beacon
By far, probably the most outstanding of the 5 planets is Venus. Though it reached its best angular distance east of the solar on Jan. 10, it continues to shine brilliantly within the west-southwest sky at nightfall all through February — a panoramic night lantern. Venus will stay at peak brightness for a lot of the month, and should you observe it via steadily held binoculars or a small telescope, you may see it as a crescent. As February progresses, Venus’s disk will seem bigger because it strikes nearer to Earth, whereas its crescent thins because the planet aligns extra carefully with the Earth-sun line of sight.
Saturn — Simple, then problematic
The following planet to identify is Saturn, the famed “lord of the rings.” To seek out it, merely look towards Venus and prolong an imaginary line straight downward — the primary vivid star-like object you come throughout might be Saturn. Your first impression is likely to be, “Wow, it is so dim!” However in actuality, Saturn shines as brightly as a first-magnitude star. Nevertheless, when in comparison with Venus, which is a full six magnitudes brighter, Saturn seems considerably fainter—solely about 1/250 as vivid!
Saturn is often extra radiant, however proper now, its ring system is sort of edge-on from Earth’s perspective, contributing little mirrored mild. To catch a glimpse of the rings—now showing as a skinny, vivid line bisecting the planet’s disk—you may want a small telescope with a minimum of 30x magnification.
In the course of the first two weeks of February, watch because the hole between Venus and Saturn regularly widens. Within the second half of the month, Saturn will change into more and more tough to identify in opposition to the brightening night twilight, ultimately fading into the solar’s glare by month’s finish.
However we’ll be coming again to it in a second.
Jupiter and moons
Then there’s Jupiter — unmistakable with its silvery-white brilliance, although solely one-tenth as vivid as Venus. The most important planet in our photo voltaic system seems excessive within the south at nightfall, accompanied by two well-known naked-eye star clusters, the Pleiades and Hyades, in addition to a number of vivid winter stars. Probably the most notable is the orange-hued Aldebaran, positioned just under Jupiter.
With binoculars or a small telescope, you may also spot Jupiter’s 4 largest moons, first noticed by Galileo in 1610 along with his crude telescope. Make a particular effort to view them on the night time of Feb. 25-26, when three of them—Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto—kind a strikingly tight triangle on one aspect of the planet, whereas Io sits alone on the opposite. The triangle will seem “tightest” at 12:39 a.m. Jap Time on Feb. 26 (0539 GMT, or 9:39 p.m. Pacific Time on Feb. 25).
Fiery Mars and his two companions
Now, look midway up within the japanese sky for orange-yellow Mars, which blazes into view as night time falls. Throughout February, it’s accompanied by the “Twin Stars” of Gemini, Pollux and Castor. This placing trio spends practically the whole night time crossing the sky, forming a particular triangle that regularly shifts in measurement and form because the month progresses.
Mars was at opposition and closest to Earth in January. Throughout February, as Earth strikes forward in its orbit, Mars lags behind, inflicting it to fade by about three-quarters of a magnitude over the course of the month.
Mercury takes us again to Saturn
The fifth and remaining planet is the smallest in our photo voltaic system: Mercury. This rocky little world turns into seen throughout the remaining week of February, shining virtually as brightly as Sirius, the brightest star within the sky, at magnitude -1.2. It’ll set simply over an hour after the solar on Feb. 24.
Bear in mind once we mentioned we might come again to Saturn?
Properly, on Feb. 24, Mercury might be together with Saturn, with the 2 planets showing comparatively shut — simply 1.5 levels aside. This might be your likelihood to finish the set and say you’ve got seen all 5 night planets without delay. Mercury might be positioned to Saturn’s proper and shining about eight instances brighter.
To identify them, you may want a flat, unobstructed west-southwest horizon and a really clear, clear sky. Begin wanting about half-hour after sundown, scanning two fist-widths at arm’s size instantly beneath Venus. We strongly advocate utilizing binoculars to scan close to the horizon. Mercury must be straightforward to select up, and as soon as you’ve got discovered it, you shouldn’t have any bother seeing it with the bare eye. Saturn, nevertheless, is one other story. Whereas it is doubtless seen via binoculars, recognizing it with out optical help might be a problem.
However should you succeed, you may have seen all 5—and received this spherical of “planetary bingo.”
Honorable point out
We have coated the 5 brightest planets seen to the bare eye, however two extra could be noticed with good binoculars or a small telescope. A star chart or atlas will assist pinpoint their actual places within the sky.
Uranus can generally be noticed with the bare eye by these with wonderful eyesight, a transparent, darkish sky, and prior data of the place to look. At its brightest, it shines at magnitude +5.6 and is well identifiable with good binoculars. A small telescope could reveal its tiny, greenish disk.
Lastly, we come to probably the most distant of the eight classical planets: Neptune. It’ll spend all of 2025 within the constellation Pisces. At its peak magnitude of +7.8, this bluish-hued world is seen solely with good binoculars or a telescope.
Attempt recognizing it on the night of Feb. 1, when it seems close to sensible Venus and a waxing crescent moon. Later within the month, it fades into the intense night twilight because it approaches conjunction with the solar on March 20.
Joe Rao serves as an teacher and visitor lecturer at New York’s Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmers’ Almanac and different publications.
