Every evening in February, Venus rises a bit higher in the sky after sunset as it closes in on Mars. By February 18 Venus is about a degree and a half below Mars. On February 19, Venus is just a degree below Mars. But the most picturesque moment will be after sunset on February 20, when a crescent moon joins the two planets in a tight grouping. The moon will be less than two degrees directly right of Venus, with Mars less than a degree to the upper right of Venus.

On February 21, the crescent moon will have jumped above the Venus/Mars pair, which will be less than a half degree apart. But up by the moon, Uranus will be emerging out from the lit limb of its crescent. Back near the horizon, Venus will pass Mars as it moves upward. In March, Venus will pair up with Uranus.

The full moon for February occurs on Tuesday the 3rd at 3:09 p.m. PST. The moon will rise that evening with Jupiter alongside it in the east. Jupiter reaches opposition on February 6, when it rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. The movie Jupiter Ascending coincidentally comes out on the same date as when Jupiter ascends in opposition.

If you haven’t seen Comet Lovejoy yet, try to snag it before the end of February. Even though it’s positioned nice and high in the sky for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s receding from Earth and becoming dimmer. Comet Lovejoy will sail between the constellations of Perseus and Andromeda, near overhead, as it heads toward the W-shape of Cassiopeia. Use binoculars to track down the faint fuzzball.