After Sunset
Look low to the west as the sky begins to darken for the brilliant planet Venus, probably the first bright point of light you’ll see. It will set below the horizon between 8:30 and 9 pm.
This is your last chance for a while to glimpse Saturn in the evening sky. It appers just below Venus, but will be much fainter. As the days go on it will set earlier and earlier, getting more difficult to find, becoming very hard to spot by the second week of February. If you have a very flat horizon to the west, free of buildings, trees, or hills to block your view, you might catch Saturn for a few more days afterwards before it’s completely lost in the glow of sunset.
Look high in the south for mighty Jupiter. Whenever Jupiter is visible it’s always a great target for backyard telescopes. You’ll not only see the four largest moons of Jupiter, but also the giant planet’s cloud bands. Jupiter has stripes!
Then turn to the east to find Mars, with its distinctive red color. Mars just made its closest approach to the Earth for the year just last month, so it looks especially bright now. Don’t confuse it with red stars you might find in the winter sky. The best way to tell the difference? Stars twinkle, planets usually don’t.
Look for a thin crescent Moon near Venus on the 1st. Keep watching the Moon to see it pass Jupiter on the 6th, and Mars on the 8th and 9th.
los Big Dipper starts the evening low in the northeast, but will be high enough to easily see by 8 or 9 pm. Use the two stars at the end of the bowl of the Dipper to point you to estrella polar, also known as the North Star. When you face Polaris, you’re facing due north.
Polaris is not a particularly bright star, but it does remain fixed in the sky throughout the night and throughout the year. Polaris is at the end of the handle of the Little Dipper. This group of stars is officially known as Ursa Minor the Little Bear. The Big Dipper itself is officially Ursa Major the Great Bear.
While you’re facing north, look for a group of five stars known as Cassiopeia the Queen. This group of stars can also help you find the North Star. The central peak of Cassiopeia’s W-shape also points you in the direction of Polaris.
High in the south you can find the bright stars of the winter evening sky. The most famous and easily found constellation is Orion the Hunter. Look for the three stars in a straight line that mark his belt, the two stars that mark his shoulders, and the two stars of his feet. Betelgeuse, one of his shoulder stars, is distinctly red in color.
Learn to find Orion, and he can direct you to many other sights of the winter sky. Follow the belt stars up and to the right to find a “V”-shaped group of stars. At one end of the V-shape is a bright orange-red star called Aldebaran. The rest of the stars are part of a cluster called the Hyades. Aldebaran is not part of the Hyades itself. It just happens to sit in front of the star cluster, lining up in just the right spot. Together, Aldebaran and the Hyades mark the face of Taurus the Bull.
Look just past Aldebaran and you may see a grouping of stars called M-45, or the Pleiades Star Cluster. While your eyes alone may just see six or seven stars in this cluster, a pair of binoculars will reveal dozens of stars.
Follow Orion’s belt down and to the left for the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, in Canis Major the Big Dog.
Draw a line from Orion’s blue-colored foot Rigel up through Betelgeuse, and keep on going until you run into Gemini the Twins. The bright stars Castor y Pollux mark the heads of the twins. Under dark skies you may just be able to pick out two stick-figure bodies leading back towards Orion.
Rising in the east is our first early-evening glimpse of the spring constellation Leo the Lion. The bright star Regulus marks the regal heart of the lion.
Other bright stars to look for this month are Capella in Auriga the Charioteer, and Procyon in Canis Minor the Small Dog.
From Dark Skies
Bright outdoor lighting can make it hard to see all but the brightest stars. On a clear night, find a dark spot far away from city lights, give your eyes time to adjust to the dark, and look for even more celestial sights. You can begin by looking for the fainter stars of the season’s constellations. The faint stars of Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Perseus become easier to spot.
Even under dark skies, the stars of Cancer the Crab can be a challenge to see. Look for a faint upside-down Y shape of stars between Leo and Gemini. Near the center point of the Y is M-44, the Beehive Cluster, a pretty star cluster best seen with binoculars or a small telescope.
Winter evenings are great for spotting the Milky Way, coursing from the south, high overhead through Cassiopeia, and on towards the northwest horizon.
Just beneath the belt of Orion is a faint patch of light that marks the hunter’s sword. This is M-42, the Great Orion Nebula. A small telescope can reveal the overall shape of the nebula. A quartet of young stars near the center is called the Trapezium. These stars formed out of the gas and dust of the nebula.
Early Morning
Throughout the year, the constellations rise and set just a little bit earlier every day. You won’t see much difference from night to night, but you will over the course of weeks or months. What we see in today’s pre-dawn sky is a preview of the early evening sky in later months. Go out before dawn this month for a look ahead at the spring night sky.
Compare the locations of the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia from where you saw them in the early evening. These two star pictures stay on nearly opposite sides of Polaris so that as one is high in the sky, the other dips low to the northern horizon.
Just before dawn, our winter constellations have set in the west. The Big Dipper is now nearly straight overhead. You can use the Big Dipper to help you find Leo the Lion: just imagine poking a hole in the bottom of the bowl. The water drips out on to the lion’s back!
Before you set your alarm for the wee hours of the morning, consider planning out your observing. Desktop planetarium software like the free, open-source Stellarium can show you more precisely where night sky objects can be found on any date and time, and help you plan ahead.
Total Lunar Eclipse: March 14, 2025
For the first time since May 2022, we will see a total lunar eclipse from Nashville on Friday, March 14. The only catch: it’s in the wee hours of the morning, starting just after midnight. We’ll post more details in next month’s star chart. Visit Sudekum Planetarium for our live Nightwatch show for a detailed preview!