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The Night Sky This Month: February

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Here are some of the things to see in February:

  • 9 pm, southern sky – Orion constellation, recognizable for its prominent hourglass shape, with the bright stars Betelgeuse, marking the Hunter’s shoulder, and Rigel, marking its knee, the stars Alnilam, Alnitak and Mintaka forming the Orion’s Belt, and the Orion Nebula (M42), the brightest diffuse nebula in the sky, with the famous Trapezium Cluster, a young open star cluster embedded within the nebula
  • 9 pm, southern sky – Canis Major, with Sirius, the brightest star in the sky and the bright open cluster Messier 41
  • 5 am, southeastern sky – Jupiter rising after midnight, followed by Mars
  • February 15 – a partial solar eclipse, visible only from southern South America and parts of Antarctica

Related: February constellations