The February romance of Jupiter and Venus has begun
Feb 3, 2021, 2:45 PM
(AP Photo)
(AP Photo)
Month No. 2, February, is known as the month of love.
There are some celestial signs of a great “romance” between the planets Jupiter and Venus in the skies of Arizona!
As February opens up, we look to the early morning sky for the two most brilliant planets in the solar system.
After the great conjunction of both Jupiter and Saturn on Dec. 21, we now have no excuse not to look for the next best attraction in our Arizona morning sky.
Look low in the southeastern sky from the beginning of this month for Jupiter and Venus, 20 minutes before sunrise.
Jupiter, the giant of the solar system, is coming out of solar conjunction and meets up with Venus, the brightest of all the major planets, for a really close encounter in the early hours of Feb. 11.
These two planets will appear as close as the diameter of a full moon, or just about a half of a degree of separation!
This is what they should like on the morning of the 11th.
You will need a really clear view of the southeastern sky and a pair of binoculars will also be helpful too!
Venus will then move into solar conjunction by March 25 to then appear in the evening sky later in the year.
Both Jupiter and Saturn will then begin the next series and they remain close in the spring and summer skies.
The moon returns to its last quarter phase Feb. 4 and then reaches its new phase on the 11th.
This is the best time of the month to view many of the fainter objects, such as stars, galaxies and planets.
Get set for an amazing full moon on the night of Feb. 27 with the arrival of the full snow moon at 1:17 a.m. Arizona time.
Mars remains high in the south at sunset and easy to see with the naked eye.
The NASA Perseverance rover is expected to land on the surface of Mars on Feb. 18 around 1:30 p.m. Arizona time.
Try looking at Mars that evening, as it will appear over 170 million miles from Earth!
Hard to believe that a tiny spacecraft from Earth is hopefully on the surface of this strange world and soon to be performing its exploration phases.
The next step is to have humans explore the surface of Mars.
To print your own monthly star chart, click here.
To view satellites/dates/times of passage, click here.
Listen to the Dr. Sky Show on KTAR News 92.3 FM every Saturday at 3 a.m.
