by Erich Karkoschka
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Mercury has the best evening apparition of 2019, visible after the 12th in the west at dusk, best around the 24th. |
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Mars is still magnitude 1, 50 degrees high at dusk, sets after 11 pm. It is moving toward Aries and Taurus with Aldebaran of similar brightness and color. |
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Uranus is 1 degree south of Mars on February 12. Although Mars is 100 times as bright as Uranus, both are of similar sizes, 6 arcsec versus 4 arcsec, but very different colors. |
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Jupiter rises at 3 am and is 30 degrees high at dawn. |
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Venus rises 4:30 am and is 20 degrees high at dawn. Venus and Jupiter are only separated by 10 degrees at the beginning of the month. |
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Saturn rises after Venus in early February. On the 18th, it is within 1 degree of Venus. Saturn and Jupiter are separated by 30 degrees, the closest since 2001. |
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The moon will be back in the evening sky on the 6th, possibly on the 5th, very low in the WSW in bright twilight. Binoculars may be needed to spot it depending on the atmospheric conditions. |