News

Details

Written by: PRESTON DYCHES

Published: 02 February 2025

What’s Up for February? The Moon's many engagements, what's the right term for a planetary rendezvous, and the goddess of love draws near.

Starting with the Moon's journey across the sky this month, you'll find the slim crescent of Earth's natural satellite cozied up to the planet Venus on the 1st. It then visits the

Pleiades on the 5th, and hops over Jupiter on the 6th, looking increasingly fuller, before arriving right next to Mars on February 9th.

Jupiter and Mars rule the sky on February nights. You'll find them high overhead in the evening, together with the winter constellations of Orion, Taurus, and Gemini.

Astronomers sometimes get picky about their terminology. For instance, the apparent close approaches of objects on the sky, like two planets, or the Moon and a planet, are commonly called "conjunctions," and we often use that term in this video series.

However, most of the time, the technically correct term is an "appulse." Conjunctions technically occur when two objects have the same right ascension, and they don't have to appear close together in the sky. (Right ascension is a way of indicating where an object is along the sky from east to west, similar to how we measure longitude on Earth's surface.)

Appulses are simply the times when two objects appear at their closest in the sky, regardless of whether they have to have the same "space coordinates." The term comes from a Latin word meaning "brought near" or "driven toward."

And now that you know the distinction, you can choose to keep it casual or impress others with some next-level astronomy knowledge. Either way, it’s all about enjoying the view.

February is a month for love, so what better time to spotlight Venus, which is associated with the Roman goddess of love? This month, Venus shines at its brightest for the year. It'll remain dazzling through the start of March as it slowly descends from its late-January high point in the sky. By mid-March, it will disappear into the glare of sunset, only to reappear as a morning object in April.

Now, you may have heard that Venus goes through phases, just like the Moon. You can see these phases with a modest telescope. But there’s a surprising twist: unlike the Moon, Venus isn’t at its brightest when it’s "full." Instead, it shines most brilliantly in our skies when it’s a thinner crescent! It all comes down to distance. See, Venus only appears fuller when it’s on the far side of the Sun, and much farther from Earth. As it comes closer to us, its phase becomes a crescent, but the planet also looks much larger in the sky. Even as a crescent, the light from its closer position more than makes up for the smaller phase.

So, remember this Valentine's proverb: "The goddess of love is at her most radiant when nearby!"

Stay up to date on all of NASA's missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov.

Preston Dyches works for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.