Moon, Venus and Jupiter

If you're been out after sunset the past few weeks, you've undoubtedly seen Venus and Jupiter, even if you didn't know it. Venus is the crazy bright "star" about 1/2 way up from the horizon to zenith (straight above) at sunset, to the southwest. Jupiter is the nearly-as-bright "star" about a fist-width (ten degrees) east of Venus.

On the 25th of February, the moon will be quite close to Venus, making it an even more striking sight. On the 26th, the moon will be near Jupiter.

Meanwhile, Mars is rising an hour or so after sunset. It's distinctively orange, not nearly as bright as Jupiter or Venus, but still pretty obvious, to the east, and rising higher as the night gets later.

The means on our next sidewalk astronomy night (probably on the 25th in Monrovia, corner of Myrtle and Lime), we'll definitely have the moon, Jupiter, and Venus to see. Mars may get high enough over the buildings for us to see before we call it a night.

Next month, Mars, for sure.

It's not a very favorable apparition, though, so it'll still look pretty small, even through a moderate-sized telescope.