Venus and Mercury

Early February provides an excellent opportunity to spot the elusive planet Mercury. Over the next few nights, look out to the West shortly after sunset. Venus is the very bright object that can be seen during twilight. Venus will be joined by Mercury during the first few days of the month, with Mercury most easily visible on the 7th.



Mercury and Venus on the evening of Feb 5th. Photo: Alan Cayless

Story and finder chart: Sky and Telescope

Moon / Pleiades Occultations

On the afternoon of Jan 27th, the Moon passed in front of the Pleiades. This took place during late afternoon and was almost complete as twilight fell. However, the final stages were just visible through broken cloud.



This image, taken at 17:05, shows Alcyone, the brightest member of the Pleiades (arrowed), shortly after it passed very close to the southern limb of the Moon. From Stirling Alcyone was not quite occulted, but from a position slightly north or west of Stirling, a grazing occultation would have been possible.

There will be a better opportunity on Feb 23rd, when the Moon will pass in front of the Pleiades between 22:30 and midnight. Shortly after that watch out for a close shave with Saturn on March 2nd.

For further details, see the SPA Occultations Section