February 18, 2024: After sundown, the February gibbous moon is between the Horns of the Bull. Bright Jupiter is in the southwest.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:43 a.m. CST; Sunset, 5:27 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
Brilliant Venus is low in the east-southeast before sunrise. At forty-five minutes before sunup, the planet is less than 5° above the horizon. At this altitude – height above the horizon – stars and planets are blurred and dimmed by the atmosphere to a point a binocular is needed to see them. Like the sun and moon, Venus shines through this thick layer of air.
At this hour, the bright star Altair is nearly one-third of the way from the horizon to overhead, to Venus’ upper left. As the eighth brightest star for northern hemisphere sky watchers, the star is less than 20 light years away. It shines with a brightness of about ten suns.
Venus and Mars
The Morning Star steps eastward in front of Capricornus and it closes a gap to Mars. At thirty minutes before sunrise, use a binocular to spot the Red Planet 1.9° to Venus’ lower left.
Mercury reaches superior conjunction in ten days. It rises a few minutes before the sun and hides in bright sunlight.
Evening Sky
Saturn sets during evening twilight on its way to conjunction on the 28th.
February Gibbous Moon is between the Horns
About an hour after sundown, the gibbous moon, 74% illuminated, is high in the southeastern sky. With this level of moonlight, dimmer stars are challenging to see. Using a binocular or standing in the shadow of a building improves the view.
The moon is between the Bull’s horns, Elnath and Zeta Tauri, a precarious place to be. Elnath is 5.9° to the moon’s upper right, while Zeta Tauri is 7.7° to the lower right.
The Bull’s head is outlined by a letter “V” made by Aldebaran, Taurus’ brightest star, and the Hyades star cluster. The Pleiades star cluster seems to be riding on the bovine’s back.
Capella
The star Capella, the fourth brightest star visible from the mid-northern latitudes, is about 20° above the moon. The star’s name means “the little she-goat.” It is less than fifty light years away and shines with a brightness of over 130 suns.
Capella is about the same temperature as the sun and has nearly the same color. Look at the star through a binocular to note its sunlike hue.
Jupiter
This evening, Jupiter is over halfway up in the southwest after sundown. The planet moves eastward in front of Aries. It approaches an imaginary line from Hamal to Menkar.
The Jovian Giant sets in the west-northwest before midnight. Early risers or night owls can see the moon before it sets in the west-northwest more than two hours before daybreak tomorrow morning.
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