February 16, 2024: After sunset, the slightly gibbous moon is next to the Pleiades star cluster. This February evening moon-Pleiades conjunction preludes other groupings.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:46 a.m. CST; Sunset, 5:25 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
Venus
The Morning Star slowly descends into bright morning twilight in the east-southeast. Forty-five minutes before daybreak, Venus is about 5° above the horizon. Look from a location with a clear horizon in that direction.
Venus appears low in the eastern morning sky until mid-spring, moving into brighter sunlight. It passes behind the sun during early June then into the evening sky.
As Venus approaches superior conjunction, Mars emerges from bright morning twilight after its solar conjunction about three months ago. Venus appears to be overtaking the Red Planet.
Venus and Mars
At thirty minutes before daybreak, they are visible through a binocular. Brilliant Venus is 2.8° to the upper right of Mars. Venus passes by in six mornings.
While they look close together in the sky, the distance between them is over 76 million miles, less than Earth’s distance from the sun.
Mars is not as bright as might be expected. Since the planet is small, about half Earth’s diameter and twice the size of the moon, and it reflects only 25% of the sunlight that illuminates its surface, the planet’s brightness is highly variable. Currently the Martian distance from Earth is over twice Earth’s gap from the sun, the planet ranks nearly fortieth on the brightest stars list. When the planet is closest to the sun, known as perihelion, and at opposition, meaning Earth is between Mars and the sun, only the sun, moon, and Venus are brighter.
The third bright planet, that is west of the sun and considered a morning planet, is Mercury. It is awash in bright sunlight as the planet approaches superior conjunction on the 28th. Then it moves toward the western evening sky and the planet’s best evening appearance of the year for northern hemisphere sky watchers.
Evening Sky
Saturn
Saturn is east of the sun, now hiding in bright evening twilight and setting only forty-nine minutes after the sun.
February Evening Moon-Pleiades Conjunction
This evening’s spectacle is a pretty moon-Pleiades conjunction. An hour after sundown, the slightly gibbous moon, 54% illuminated, is high in the south-southwestern sky. Look carefully for the star cluster, 2.3° to the lower right of the lunar orb.
Sky watchers farther eastward see the moon near the star cluster during early evening. From Delhi, India, the moon is 3.7° west of the stellar bundle. From southwest Africa, the moon eclipses or occults Alcyone, the brightest Pleiad. The star is also known as Eta Tauri. By evening from London, England, the moon is 1.6° to the lower right of the cluster. As night settles in over the Americas, the moon moves away from the cluster.
Through a binocular the moon-Pleiades conjunction is a wonderous sight. The star cluster has a few dozen blue-white stars, while the slightly gibbous moon displays a slightly convex terminator – division between daylight and darkness.
Mark your calendar for the next two moon-Pleiades conjunctions. On March 14, the crescent moon, 28% illuminated, is 2.0° below the cluster after sundown in the Americas. On April 10 and 11 a thinner moon is either below or above the moon, not as close as this evening’s pairing or the one that occurs next month.
This evening the star Aldebaran, Taurus brightest, is over 11° to the moon’s lower left. Through the binocular look for the star with the Hyades star cluster. Together, they make a letter “V” that outlines the Bull’s head.
Jupiter
Bright Jupiter is nearly 24° to the moon’s lower right. It moves eastward in front of Aries. Hamal is 11.0° to Jupiter’s upper right, and Menkar, 12.8° to the lower left. The planet is approaching an imaginary line between the two stars.
Jupiter sets in the west-northwest before midnight, followed by the moon, nearly three hours later.
Don’t miss this evening’s conjunction with the Moon and Pleiades star cluster.
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