Friday, January 30, 2026
February skies 2026
The inset is the telescopic view Jupiter at this time.
| February | |
| 01 February 2026 | Moon near Beehive cluster (1.3° apart) |
| 02 February 2026 | Full Moon Moon near Regulus |
| 11 February 2026 | Moon near Antares |
| 020 February 2026 | Moon near Saturn in evening twilight (5° apart) |
| 24 February 2026 | Moon near Pleiades |
| 24 February 2026 | waxing Moon near Jupiter in the evening (4° apart) |
| 24 February 2026 | "Lunar X" visible in telescopes at twilight (from 07:31 UT on for ~ 4 hours) T (perigee First Quarter) |
| 27 February 2026 | Moon close to Jupiter (4° apart) |
| February 2 | Full Moon |
| February 11 | Last Quarter Moon (ideal for star gazing) |
| February11 | Moon at apogee |
| February 19 | New Moon (also ideal for star gazing) |
| February 24 | First Quarter Moon (lunar X visible) |
| February 25 | Moon at perigee |
| Date | UT | AEST | ACST | AWST |
| Feb 24 | 0731 | 18:30 | 18:01 | 15:31 (WA: X visible at twilight and when sky is full dark). |
The First Quarter Moon is clearly visible above the horizon close to he Pleiades cluster. the Lunar X and V may bee seen in a telescope or strong binoculars. The insets show the telescopic and binocular views at this time.
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).
Stars:
 |  |
| North western sky as seen from Adelaide at 21:41 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset). Similar views will been seen elsewhere in Australia 90 minutes after sunset. The inset is the binocular view of the Pleides and Uranus at this time (click to embiggen) | Southern sky as seen from Adelaide at 21:41 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset). Similar views will been seen elsewhere in Australia 90 minutes after sunset. Theta Carina is indicated by the circle, The inset is the binocular view of the the Southern Pleiades and Theta Carina at this time (click to embiggen) |
February nights see the summer constellations of Taurus the Bull, Orion the Hunter and Canis major (Orion’s hunting dog) slip into the north-western sky.
Orion is still visible, as are the Pleiades, a close grouping of six stars. A line drawn westward through Betelgeuse, the red star that forms the shoulder of Orion, and Aldebaran brings you to the Pleiades.
Although faint, the Pleiades is pretty to the unaided eye, and delightful in binoculars. If you’re fortunate enough to have a decent telescope, you’ll be able to see a hint of the nebulous cloud that makes photographs of this cluster an astronomical icon.
The Pleiades is also known as the Seven Sisters in European culture. Interestingly, many Indigenous Australian groups also saw the cluster as women. The Boorong people of north-western Victoria called it Larnankurrk and described it as a group of women watching Kulkunbulla (the two dancing youths represented by the Saucepan of Orion’s belt). However, the people of the Lake Albert area saw the Pleiades as a clutch of turkey eggs.
In February, you can also see a constellation called the “Southern Pleiades” (it’s only visible in the southern hemisphere). It’s a lot less obvious to the unaided eye than the Pleiades themselves, but is truly beautiful in binoculars or a small telescope. It’s made up of a cluster of stars around theta Carina, which also glories in the name Vathorz Posterior.
To find this small gem, look up from Acrux, the brightest star in the Southern Cross. The second bright star you come to is surrounded by a halo of dim stars, this is the Southern Pleiades.
You can easily see the Pleiades and the Southern Pleiades from around an hour after sunset as they emerge from the twilight.
As the night progresses the Pleiades sink into the west. In contrast, the Southern Pleiades rise higher above the southern horizon as February progresses but they will become harder to see due to moonlight.
Mira:
The variable star Mira (omicron Ceti) should start to brighten in February, rising from below unaided eye visibility to around magnitude 4 before peaking in March at around magnitude 3. It will be seen low above the western horizon when the sky is fully dark.
Labels: binoculars, Monthly sky, unaided eye
Monday, July 29, 2024
Occultation Pleiades 30 July 2024.
 |  |  |
| Morning
sky on Tuesday, July 30 as seen from Adelaide at 5:10 ACST, (click
to embiggen). The moon is just about to cover the star Celaeno in the
Pleiades. The inset is the binocular view of the moon at this time (click to embiggen). | Morning sky on Tuesday, July 3 as seen from Melbourne at 6:05 AEST, (click to embiggen). The moon is just about to cover the star Taygeta in the Pleiades. The inset is the binocular view of the moon at this time (click to embiggen). | Evening sky on Tuesday, July 3 as seen from Perth at 3:03 AWST, (click to embiggen). The moon is just about to cover the star Celaeno in the Pleiades. The inset is the binocular view of the moon at this time. (click to embiggen). |
| Celaeno DB | Celaeno RD | Taygeta DD | Taygeta RD | Sterope DB | Sterope RD | |
| Adelaide ACST | 5:10 | 5:43 | 5:17 | 6:26 | 5:43 | *- |
| Brisbane AEST | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Canberra AEST | - | - | 6:14 | *- | - | - |
| Darwin ACST | 4:38 | 6:00 | 5:26 | 6:14 | 5:50 | -* |
| Hobart AEST | - | - | 6:24 | 6:45 | 6:47 | - |
| Melbourne AEST | - | - | 6:05 | *- | 6:32 | *- |
| Perth AWST | 3:03 | 4:09 | 3:26 | 4:28 | 3:47 | 4:53 |
| Sydney AEST | - | - | 6:19 | *- | - | - |
DB - disappear bright limb, RD - reappear dark limb.
* Occurs in twilight
It’s best to set up around 30 minutes before the occultation so you can get oriented in the sky and don’t miss the beginning while fussing with equipment.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/
Labels: binoculars, Moon, Occultation, Pleiades, telescope
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