Diagram of Nederland February sunset sky with two mystery planets: How do we know which planet (A or B) in the Nederland February sunset sky must be Jupiter, and by elimination which one must be Venus? Read the answer in next month’s night skies column. Diagram by Frank Sanders. PHOTO BY FRANK SANDERS[/caption]

This month Jupiter and Venus make a striking visual display, side-by-side in the sunset sky. These two planets are easily identified because they are brighter than any stars (except our sun) and they do not twinkle. Jupiter is slightly dimmer than Venus, but visually it is difficult to tell from Venus.

It is often possible, however, to distinguish these two planets based on their sky positions. For the Nederland early-February sunset sky diagram shown here, how can we tell which planet (A or B) must be Jupiter, and therefore by elimination which one must be Venus?

Read the answer in next month’s Mountain-Ear night skies column.

We do not usually cover Uranus and Neptune because they are naked-eye invisible. This month is an exception because they will closely approach naked-eye objects and will therefore be easy to find with telescopes or good binoculars.

On February 15, just after sunset, Neptune will be just below Venus and slightly to its right, separated by only about a full-moon width. The most distant planet will be visible in a telescope or binoculars as a tiny but distinct bluish disc, like the head of a pin seen at arm’s length.

If you spot it, you will be reprising what Galileo Galilei did with the world’s first astronomical telescope over 400 years ago. He unwittingly spotted Neptune in late 1612 and early 1613 when it passed by Jupiter in a similar geometry to our Venus conjunction. Galileo dashed off some puzzling time-lapse sketches of a “moving” star in his notebook. His UFO was finally identified as Neptune in 1980.

On February 24 and 25, the moon will pass by the other not-ordinarily easily found planet, Uranus (YOUren us). On the first night Uranus will be just above and to the left of the moon; on the next night it will be just below and rightward of the moon. The planet will look like a blue-green dot with a significant diameter, easily seen with any telescope or good binoculars. (On dark, clear nights people with extraordinary vision can make out Uranus with their naked eyes.)

Also in February skies

The sun begins the month in Capricornus, entering Aquarius on February 16. Days are slowly lengthening, but at mid-month daylight will still only last 10.5 hours and darkness will extend 13.5 hours.

The moon’s dates are: Full (Snow Moon) February 5; Last Quarter February 13; New February 20; First Quarter February 27.

February Meteor Showers: None.

February Comets: Look for a greenish Comet, C/2022 E3 ZTF, on a line between Polaris and Capella before February 5, when moonlight will obscure it. A good time is around 7 p.m. The comet will move from Polaris toward Capella at a rapid rate from night to night. Seeing it will likely require mounted or braced binoculars.

Best Sky Viewing Nights (Minimal Moon): February 13-27.

Sunset (Mid-Month): Mars joins Aldebaran and Elnath to make a nice display high in the south. Capella is bright-white in the northeast. The Andromeda Galaxy is just west of overhead, with Cassiopeia (a squashed “W”) a bit northward. The Great Square of Pegasus is high in the west above Deneb.

Midnight (Mid-Month): Follow the arcing curve of the Big Dipper’s handle rightward and downward to red Arcturus (“Arc to Arcturus”) and then continue onward to bright-white Spica in the southeast. Leo, with burnt-orangish Regulus, is nearly overhead. The Lion’s front is easy to spot, looking like a backward-facing question mark. Procyon is bright in the southwest, with Orion and Sirius setting below it. Cassiopeia is low in the northwest.

Sunrise (Mid-Month): Altair is rising while Scorpius’Antares (looking like the Scorpion’s angry burnt-red eye) is low at due south. Vega is high in the northeast, with Deneb below it and to the left. The great trapezoid of Corvus is low in the southwest. Leo is low in the west while Capella sets in the northwest.

Mercury is lost in the sun’s glare.

Venus is low in the western sky at sunset. Look for its conjunction with the thin crescent moon and Jupiter on February 22.

Mars is very high and bright in the south at sunset, nearly overhead. Beginning the month near red Aldebaran in Taurus, it gradually shifts leftward through the month toward bright white Elnath. Mars sets around midnight.

Jupiter is in the southwest at sunset. Look for its conjunction with the crescent moon and Venus on February 22.

Saturn is lost in the sun’s glare.

Notable Space Missions: An uncrewed Russian Soyuz capsule launches from Kazakhstan on a rescue mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on February 20. It will pick up three ISS crew who are stranded there due to a micrometeoroid hole-punch in their now-docked return Soyuz. SpaceX Crew Dragon Mission 6 takes four people to the ISS from Cape Canaveral six days later. It will carry two Americans, one United Arab Emirati, and one Russian.

Frank Sanders is a spectrum scientist with the U.S. Department of Commerce in Boulder. He takes astronomy-related inquiries at backyardastronomy1@gmail.com.