MERCURY is a morning object throughout February. At the beginning of the month it will rise about 2 hours before the Sun, and be some 12° above the horizon 45 minutes before sunrise. The planet will be a little way round to the south from east in Sagittarius a few degrees below the handle of the "teapot". Mercury starts the month on magnitude -0.1, more than 2 magnitudes brighter than Nunki, the brightest star in the handle. For those prepared to be observing early enough, much of February will provide a good opportunity to view the planet.

On the morning of February 12, the thin crescent Moon, less than 5% lit, will be 4.5° to the upper left of Mercury. This should provide an excellent guide to locating the planet. Using a binocular put the Moon to the upper left of the field of view, Mercury should then be towards the lower right. Mercury will remain visible long after all stars have disappeared in the brightening sky.

By the end of February, Mercury will be rising some 70 minutes before the Sun, so will be lower in the morning twilight, only 3° above the horizon 45 minutes before sunrise. This will make it a difficult object even though it will be at magnitude -0.6.

VENUS will be in the evening sky by February, but very low. On February 1 it will be only 3° up at sunset and set only 20 minutes after the Sun. Don't confuse with Jupiter which will be to the upper right of Venus, and 6° higher. Even by the end of February, Venus will be only 6° up at sunset and set half an hour later. Thus Venus will be a difficult object all month.

On the 17th Venus will be just over half a degree above Jupiter. But Venus will be only 4° up at sunset. The two planets will be little more than 8° from the Sun, so do not look for them until the Sun is set. Viewing the Sun directly through binoculars could lead to instant eye damage.

MARS will be an evening object and well placed for viewing throughout February. Since it rises close to the time of sunset at the beginning of February, and is well north of the equator, the planet will be a low object with the best time for viewing late evening.

In February, Mars will be in Cancer, starting the month some 3° below the Praesepe (Beehive) star cluster. During the month it will move slowly towards Gemini, ending the month about 8° to the right of Pollux which, at magnitude 1.2, the brightest star in Gemini. The star will be a little fainter than Mars, but have a similar slightly orange colour.

On the 26th the nearly full Moon, 92% lit, will be about 5.5° to the upper right of the planet.

JUPITER is at conjunction with the Sun on February 28, so will be low in the western sky immediately after sunset. It sets an hour after the Sun on the 1st, but this gets steadily less during the month. So it will start the month a low difficult object in the twilight, but soon be lost altogether.

SeeVenus for the conjunction of the two planets on February 17.

SATURN will rise close to 11pm NZDT on February 1, and shortly after 9 pm at the end of the month. Thus by then it will be easily viewed by late evening. Saturn is only just north of the celestial equator so, it will get higher in southern skies than Mars, and also rise more rapidly.

During February, Saturn will be moving slowly to the west, that is in a retrograde sense, through the stars, an effect due to the faster moving Earth overtaking Saturn. The planet is in Virgo, some 20° from the first magnitude star Spica. The Moon will be about 7.5° from Saturn on the night of February 2/3, best seen before sunrise on the morning of the 3rd, when the Moon will be to the upper left of Saturn. At midnight the two will be slightly further apart with the Moon nearly directly above the planet.

Saturn's rings are still only open a slight amount, so will generally appear as a bar either side of the planet in a small telescope.