February Night Sky

The month of February is upon us and with it a wealth of winter stargazing opportunities.  This evening affords you an opportunity to view four planets over the next week or so with the unaided eye.

They will appear in a similar path that the sun follows during daylight hours (the green line in the chart).

Start your gaze with a view due south.  From the left (east) Mars makes an appearance.  And as the night progresses and with the rotation of the earth (from right to left) Mars will be visible most of the evening.  

Higher in the night sky Jupiter will make an appearance overhead.

You cannot miss Venus - one of the brightest objects in the sky - above the western horizon.  Over the next week Venus' brilliance will grow in intensity.

Finally, look for Saturn betwixt Venus and the western horizon.  

Good luck; and fingers-crossed for cold, clear viewing conditions.

Pro Tip:  Consider installing an app on your device to aid the location of celestial bodies.  I use Night Sky.  It's easy to use by holding your device up in the direction your are viewing.  It's available for both Apple and Android devices.  And it's free.