2024, February 2: February’s Three Bright Planets, Moon

February 2, 2024: Look for February’s three bright planets and the moon during the nighttime hours.

2020, July 6: The bright moon is 3.2° to the lower left of Saturn and 6.4° to the left of bright Jupiter. The Jupiter – Saturn gap is 6.3°.
2020, July 6: The bright moon is 3.2° to the lower left of Saturn and 6.4° to the left of bright Jupiter. The Jupiter – Saturn gap is 6.3°.

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 7:03 a.m. CST; Sunset, 5:07 p.m. CST.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

Summaries of Current Sky Events
Summary for Venus as a Morning Star, 2023-24

Here is today’s planet forecast:

Morning Sky

Morning Moon

2024, February 2: The moon is in the southern sky near Zubenelgenubi during morning twilight.
Chart Caption – 2024, February 2: The moon is in the southern sky near Zubenelgenubi during morning twilight.

The moon rises after midnight and the beginning of a new calendar day.  By an hour before daybreak, the lunar orb, 55% illuminated, is about 30° up in the south.  Later today at 5:18 p.m. when the moon is below the horizon in the Americas, the moon displays a Last Quarter phase.

This morning the lunar orb nears the Scorpion’s claws.  It is 8.0° from Zubenelgenubi, the southern pincer.  The arachnid’s forehead, Dschubba is over 20° to the east of the moon.  On February 5th, the moon occults or eclipses Antares, the pattern’s brightest star, for sky watchers in southeast Asia and Indonesia.

Venus

February's Bright Planets - 2024, February 2: Venus is low in the southeast before daybreak.
Chart Caption – 2024, February 2: Venus is low in the southeast before daybreak.

At forty-five minutes before daybreak, brilliant Venus is less than 10° above the southeast horizon.  It passes the star Nunki, part of Sagittarius. Use a binocular to spot the star 4.0° to the lower right of the Morning Star.

Mercury and Mars

Mercury is heading into bright sunlight, rising forty-seven minutes before sunrise.  Mars continues to emerge from bright sunlight, rising sixteen minutes before Mercury.

At forty-five minutes before daybreak, the Red Planet is about 4° above the horizon. It is visible through a binocular, but not yet high enough for unassisted viewing.

Evening Sky

Jupiter

February's three bright planet - 2024, February 2: Jupiter is high in the south-southwest after sunset.
Chart Caption – 2024, February 2: Jupiter is high in the south-southwest after sunset.

Jupiter and Saturn are the bright planets in the evening sky.  The Jovian Giant is high in the south-southwest at one hour after nightfall.  The planet slowly moves eastward in front of Aries, approaching an imaginary line from Hamal, Aries brightest star, to Menkar, part of Cetus.  Jupiter sets in the west-northwest after midnight and the beginning of a new calendar day.

Saturn

February's three bright Planets - 2024, February 2: After night fall, Saturn is low in the west-southwest.
Chart Caption – 2024, February 2: After night fall, Saturn is low in the west-southwest.

Saturn is beginning to slip into brighter twilight. At this hour, it is about 10° above the west-southwest horizon.  It sets two hours after nightfall.

The moon rises about the time Jupiter sets.  Find the thick crescent moon in the southern sky before daybreak, to the lower left of Zubenelgenubi.

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