February 7, 2026: Jupiter shines through most of the night while the gibbous moon passes Spica after midnight. Saturn fades into evening twilight as Neptune’s visibility closes.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:56 a.m. CST; Sunset, 5:14 p.m. CST. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
Jupiter dominates the night as Saturn slips toward evening twilight. The gibbous moon passes Spica.
Waning Gibbous Moon, Spica
Shortly after midnight, the waning gibbous moon passes 2.0° to Spica’s lower right, Virgo’s brightest star. At this hour, Jupiter is high in the west-southwest.
Later, during morning twilight, the gibbous moon is nearly 30° above the south-southwest horizon and 3.3° to Spica’s lower left.
Jupiter Dominates the Night
As darkness falls after sunset, bright Jupiter is nearly halfway up in the eastern sky. It continues to retrograde in front of Gemini, 9.4° to Pollux’s upper right and 10.5° to Castor’s lower right, the Twins. Look carefully for Wasat, 2.0° to Jupiter’s lower left. With an initial sighting through a binocular, the star serves as a reference to compare to Jupiter’s place each clear evening.
The Jovian Giant is south over four hours after nightfall, and it sets in the west-northwest about 90 minutes before daybreak.
Saturn After Sunset
Saturn, considerably dimmer than Jupiter, is low in the west-southwest. Telescopic views of the planet’s rings are becoming blurry as the planet appears lower each night, where the thicker atmosphere blurs and dims celestial bodies.
Neptune’s Visibility Ending
Neptune’s window of visibility is closing as well. It appears in the same binocular field with Saturn, though it is already faint. Averted (peripheral) vision is needed to see the Distant Blue World, and its visibility worsens with the planet’s low altitude above the horizon.
Look for the moon near Spica after midnight and before sunrise. Bright Jupiter is in the sky for most of the night, while Saturn lingers in the west-southwest for a few hours after sundown.
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