February 6-9, 2026: Watch the morning moon move eastward past Spica and Libra before sunrise. Find daily positions, angular separations, and where to look in the southern sky.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Moving through the Last Quarter phase, the moon passes Spica and moves eastward in front of Libra.
Spica is Virgo’s brightest star. Libra lies east of Virgo. Its stars are considerably dimmer than Spica, but they are easily visible from darkened locations. Libra’s brightest stars, Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali, are historically associated with nearby Scorpius. Use a binocular for their initial identification.
Step outside about an hour before sunrise. The bright moon is in the southern sky, relatively low, about one-third of the way from the horizon to overhead. Spica is at nearly the same altitude — height above the horizon — in the south-southwest.
Morning Moon
Here is what to see:
February 6:
The moon, 78% illuminated, is 29° above the southwest horizon and over 10° to Spica’s lower right.
February 7:
The moon, 69% illuminated and nearly 29° above the south-southwest horizon, is 3.3° to Spica’s lower left. Shortly after midnight, and about an hour after moonrise in the Central Time Zone, the moon passes 2.0° to Spica’s lower right.
February 8:
In front of Libra, the 60% illuminated moon is less than one-third of the way from the horizon to overhead. It is nearly 15° to Spica’s lower left and almost 9° to Zubenelgenubi’s lower right.
February 9:
The Last Quarter moon is about 25° above the southern horizon and 8° to Zubenelgenubi’s lower left.
Watch the moon appear farther eastward each morning as it passes Spica and Libra’s stars.
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