The planet Mercury is peeking into view in the early evening. It looks like a bright star, but it's quite low in the west during twilight, so it can be hard to spot. The Moon will join it tomorrow night.
Weekly Stargazing Tips
Provided by StarDate.org. Unless otherwise specified, viewing times are local time regardless of time zone, and are good for the entire Lower 48 states (and, generally, for Alaska and Hawaii).
February 17: Evening Mercury
February 18: Moon and Mercury
The planet Mercury is putting in a decent appearance in the evening sky now. It looks like a bright star low in the west during twilight. And tonight it has a prominent companion: the crescent Moon. They will look like they're almost touching each other.
February 19: Moon and Saturn
Saturn, the second-largest planet in the solar system, looks like a bright star near the Moon this evening. Through good binoculars or a small telescope, its largest moon, Titan, looks like a tiny star quite near the planet.
February 20: Changing Dipper
The Big Dipper has figured in the star lore of most cultures, as everything from a big bear to a plow to a drinking gourd. In the distant future, though, these pictures will vanish because the dipper's stars are moving in different directions.
February 21: Rosette Nebula
The Rosette Nebula, a large cloud of gas and dust, stands almost due east of Betelgeuse, the bright orange star at the northeastern corner of Orion. Good binoculars or a telescope reveal a score of stars in a cluster at the nebula's center.
February 22: Cruel Star
The star Kepler-56, in Cygnus, recently might have engulfed one of its planets. Two more might be doomed as well because the star has puffed up to giant proportions. The system is in the east-northeast at dawn, between Deneb, Cygnus's brightest star, and brighter Vega.
February 23: Moon and Pleiades
The Moon passes through the outskirts of the Pleiades Cluster tonight. The cluster forms the outline of a small dipper, and is the best-known star cluster in the heavens. But the moonlight makes it tough to see the stars.