This week, you can catch Jupiter and the Moon in close quarters. The waxing-crescent Moon will slide about 3° north of the gas giant on Feb. 15 at around 8h Universal Time. For observers in the Americas, the objects will be closer together the evening of Feb. 14; observers in East Asia and Oceania will see them closer on the night of Feb. 15.
Whichever night you see them, the pair will make an alluring wide-field vista hanging out beneath the fuzzy patch of the Pleiades (M45) and to the right of the constellation Orion.
Jupiter won’t be the only planet in the neighborhood: On the evening of Feb. 15/16, the Moon will reach conjunction with Uranus, passing 3° north. The ice giant will be at the limit of naked-eye visibility and competing with the nearby Moon, so you’ll probably want to seek it out with binoculars or your Celestron telescope.
Follow Astronomy magazine, the world’s best-selling astronomy magazine:
🌎 Website: https://astronomy.com
📖 Subscribe: http://subscribe.astronomy.com
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AstronomyMagazine
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/astronomy.magazine
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/AstronomyMag
Shop Celestron telescopes:
🔭 Website: https://celestron.com
Follow Dave Eicher:
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidjohneicher
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/eicher.david
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/deicherstar
