Podcaster: Rob Webb
Title: Last Minute Astronomer February 2025
Organization: Physics teacher at Pequea Valley High School
Link: http://mrwebb.podbean.com ;
https://sites.google.com/site/mrwebbonline/ ;
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrWebbPV
https://sites.google.com/site/pvplanetarium/home
follow me : @MrWebbPV on Twitter ; @lastminuteastronomer on Facebook and Instagram
Don’t forget this podcast is found on my Podbean page, Stitcher, and iTunes. There’s also a video version on my YouTube Channel and I can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @mrwebbpv. The Pequea Valley Planetarium and its events and updates are on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as @pvplanetarium.
Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out.
Description: February 2025 is a phenomenal continuation of January’s planetary-ness! You’ll get chances to see all the planets before going to bed and a conjunction of Mercury & Saturn.nd a brief but intense meteor shower shows up.
Today’s sponsor: Big thanks to our Patreon supporters this month: Rob Leeson, David Bowes, Brett Duane, Benett Bolek, Mary Ann, Frank Frankovic, Michael Freedman, Kim Hay, Steven Emert, Frank Tippin, Rani Bush, Jako Danar, Joseph J. Biernat, Nik Whitehead, Michael W, Cherry Wood, Steve Nerlich, Steven Kluth, James K Wood, Katrina Ince, Phyllis Foster, Don Swartwout, Barbara Geier, Steven Jansen, Donald Immerwahr
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Transcript:
February 2025 is a phenomenal continuation of January’s planetary-ness! You’ll get chances to see all the planets before going to bed and a conjunction of Mercury & Saturn.
Hi everybody, I’m Rob, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.
We’ll start by talking about this month’s big events, then highlight the naked eye planets, and finish up with the lunar phases, so you can plan ahead better than me.
BIG EVENTS
24th – CONJUNCTION of Mercury & Saturn – Check out two planets less than 2° away from each other! Get out after 5:50pm (sunset) and find BRIGHT Venus in the SW. Then look 20˚ (two fist-widths) below Venus, close to the horizon. There you should see 2 planets, brighter Mercury on the right, dimmer Saturn on the left, just about one pinky’s width away. They both set before 6:50pm, so don’t dilly-dally. Also make sure you have a VERY clear view of the horizon.
25th – 28th – Mercury, Saturn, Venus – These 3 planets dance around the western sunset sky this last week of February. Venus stays bright and high, while Saturn drops even lower and Mercury rises to about 10˚ above the horizon. The Moon will then join them the first couple days of March.
Naked-eye PLANETS
Sunset
Venus – Starting at sunset about 30° above the horizon, Venus dominates the sunset sky. Look SW just after sunset and find the brightest non-blinking object in that direction. Using a telescope, you’ll see it in its half phase. Sets between 9:10 and 8:30pm.
Saturn – Saturn hangs out well below Venus by about 15˚, getting lower as the month goes along, becoming very difficult to see by mid-month.
Jupiter – High in the South after sunset, above Taurus’ head.
Mars – High in the SE after sunset, right in the middle of Gemini. Look for the bright red dot making a triangle with Pollux and Castor, Gemini’s 2 brightest stars. Or find Jupiter and look about 30˚ to the left and down.
Mercury (last week) – If you get real lucky and get clear skies and have a clear view of the W horizon, you might just catch Mercury emerging just 10° above the horizon, but only for the last couple of days of February. This evening appearance lasts until about March 10th.
Middle of the night
Jupiter – Above Taurus’ head, super bright. Moves West through the night and sets around 2am.
Mars – To the left of Jupiter by about 30°, hanging around Gemini’s twin stars Pollux and Castor. Moves West through the night and sets around 5am.
Morning
Mars – If you’re up by 4am, you should be able to find Mars in the NW, but it gets harder and lower as the month goes by.
Lunar Events
LUNAR CYCLE
Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)
First Quarter Moon – 5th (Visible until midnight)
Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)
Full Moon – 12th (Visible all night)
Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)
Last Quarter Moon – 20th (Visible midnight into the morning)
Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)
New Moon – 27th (darkest skies)
LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
The Moon will be traveling across the sky as normal, passing by some planets at particular times.
1st – 2nd – Saturn has dipped below Venus in the sunset sky by about 12°, and a very thin crescent Moon joins in on the 1st, within 3° of Venus. Then, on Feb 2nd, the Moon, Venus, and Saturn make a string of objects just after sunset in the SW.
6th – Find the Waxing Gibbous Moon just about 5° above bright Jupiter moving West throughout the night, setting just before 3:30am.
9th – The Moon will start out the night just 2˚ from Mars, moving further away throughout the night, setting around 6am.
And that’s the sky for this month. If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram. Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies.
Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission.
End of podcast:
365 Days of Astronomy
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