February says goodbye to the Neanderthal comet, C/2022 E3 (ZTF), which has visited the Earth again after 50,000 years and which will still be visible, albeit with difficulty, until February 5, when the full moon will be disturbed . However, this month too will reserve some interesting phenomena, as underlined by the Unione Astrofili Italiani (Uai): starting from an unusual incursion of two planets, Venus and Jupiter, in the constellation of the Whale. As a rule, in fact, the planets are found in the 13 constellations commonly crossed by the Sun, i.e. the traditional 12 of the zodiac plus Ophiuchus: this is why the short ‘trip’, which will take first Jupiter from 5 to 19 February and then Venus on 26, constitutes such a rare phenomenon.
As for the other planets, Mercury will only be visible in the first days of the month, as it will then get closer and closer to the Sun, and it will also become increasingly difficult to admire Neptune, which on February 15th will be in conjunction with Venus. Mars and Uranus continue to be observable in the first part of the night, while Saturn, after almost three years of permanence, on the 13th moves from the constellation of Capricornus to that of Aquarius, even if it will not be possible to admire it given the imminent conjunction with the Sun, which will take place on February 16th.
Beautiful winter constellations still dominate the sky. The main protagonist is always Orion, with the three aligned stars of the belt (Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka) and the bright stars Betelgeuse (red) and Rigel (blue). Further up we still find the constellations of Taurus, with the red Aldebaran, the constellation of Auriga with the brilliant star Capella and Gemini, with the main stars Castor and Pollux. Finally, down to the left of Orion shines Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, in the constellation of Canis Major.
Source: Ansa
I am a journalist with over 6 years of experience working in the news industry. I currently work as an author for Global Happenings, and my coverage focuses on Technology news. I have written for various publications, including Reuters, The New York Times and The Guardian.
