Jupiter

Jupiter is rapidly losing ground to the evening twilight, appearing 29° above the southwest horizon under deep twilight conditions at the start of the month, but reaching only 12° above the western horizon by the time we reach the end of the month.

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Best time to see: 1 February, from 17:30 UT

Altitude: 34°

Location: Pisces

Direction: South-southwest

Features: Complex atmosphere, Galilean moons

Recommended equipment: 75mm or larger

Through the eyepiece of a telescope, Jupiter's low altitude will mean it will be badly affected by seeing. This causes fine detail to wobble and blur, making such detail difficult to see well. On a more encouraging note, Jupiter's declination is increasing, and when next at opposition in early November, it will be able to reach an altitude of 50° in a dark sky.

A small telescope will currently show the planet's disc, two main belts, and, for apertures above 100mm, the persistent atmospheric feature known as the Great Red Spot. The four Galilean moons are another amazing sight to watch as their starlike dots appear to dance endlessly around the planet.

As the end of February approaches and we move into the start of March, mag. -1.9 Jupiter will appear really close to mag. -3.9 Venus, the two planets forming an impressive pair above the western horizon even despite their low altitude. On 28 February, they will appear 1.5° apart, a prelude to their closest separation of just 0.6° on 1 March. If you have several clear evenings, watching a planetary conjunction involving two bright planets is fascinating. The rapid positional shifts really give you a sense of the three-dimensional nature of our Solar System.

On the evening of 22 February, a thin 8%-lit waxing crescent Moon sits south of the imaginary line joining Venus to Jupiter, a particularly striking display and a great scene to photograph if the conditions are clear.

The planets in February