Most of the naked-eye planets are visible throughout February, with Venus and Mars gathering at dusk, and Jupiter reaching peak brightness and shining all night long. The Big Dipper also re-enters the Hawaiian evening sky.

Throughout February, Venus shines brilliantly in the west in the early evening; at minus 3.9 magnitude, only the sun and moon outshine the planet. In early February, look for Venus low in the west around 6:30 p.m., shortly after sunset.

Venus will be about 20 degrees above the western horizon (the width of two of your palms held at arm’s length) as the planet emerges at dusk. Early in the month Venus sets at 8 p.m. By the end of the February Venus should pop out of the gathering dark by 6:45 p.m. By that time, Venus will be about 30 degrees above the west horizon as it first appears (that’s the width of three palms), and will set at about 8:40 p.m.

In January, Venus gathered with Mercury, and Venus’ brilliance made it much easier than usual to locate that elusive planet. In late February, Venus performs a similar useful function in helping to find the planet Mars. While Mars has been in our western evening sky for many months, it has been fading steadily in brightness and is now down to 1.28 magnitude. So having a bright beacon such as Venus to find Mars is handy.

At the start of February, look west starting around 7 p.m. and find the blazing light of Venus. Mars will be 10 degrees above Venus in early February, or the width of your palm at arm’s length. Mars has a pale orange color. One aid in spotting Mars: The planet in February is in front of the stars of Aquarius, one of the faintest of constellations. Thus, Mars will pop out pretty easily.

As February goes on, Venus will appear closer to Mars each night. By Feb. 10, Venus will be only 5 degrees below the red planet, which is little more than the width of two fingers. The closest "pass" of these planets occurs from Feb. 19-22; look west around 7:30 p.m. on any of these nights.

By the end of the month, Mars is about 3 degrees below Venus and sets by 8:30 p.m.

Jupiter rises in east

Jupiter is in opposition at 9 p.m. Feb. 5 in Hawaii. When a planet is in opposition it rises in the east at dusk, is high in the sky at midnight, and sets in the west at dawn. When a planet is in opposition it is also at its closest approach to Earth for the year and thus shines at its brightest. So it is with the king of the planets, shining at maximum brightness of minus 2.64, far brighter than any star.

In early February, the king of the planets does indeed rise at dusk, pass overhead at midnight and set at dawn. The planet is also at its brightest in early February, shining at minus 2.6 magnitude.

By the end of the month, Jupiter will be about a third of the way up in the east at dusk will cross high overhead at 11 p.m., and will set around 5:30 a.m. Look for the full moon next to Jupiter on the evening of Feb. 3-4.

Saturn & Mercury

Saturn is in the morning sky in February. Saturn is right in front the claw of Scorpius the Scorpion, and is about 10 degrees above the orange-red star Antares in the heart of the Scorpion.

Throughout the month, Saturn looks like an added star in the row of four stars that form the claw. The planet rises in the southeast with the Scorpion, at 2:30 a.m. in early February and just before 1 a.m. at the end of the month. The planet has a distinctive yellow-white color, different from the color of the other stars in the Scorpion claw, and shines at 0.5 magnitude. Look for the crescent moon next to Saturn early on Feb. 12 and 13.

Mercury hugs the eastern horizon before dawn from about Feb. 10 through the end of the month. Look for the planet rising in the east-southeast at 6 a.m. around Feb. 10, shining at 0.8. From Feb. 15 to the end of the month, Mercury is up by 5:30 a.m. and shines brightly at zero magnitude, which is the good news. The bad news: Day breaks about 45 minutes after Mercury rises, so there is not a lot of time to see the planet. As with Mars in the evening, the stars behind Mercury in February are faint (in this case, the stars of Capricornus), which should make it easier to spot Mercury.

Other sky events

Chinese New Year occurs two new moons before the first day of spring, which is on March 21 this year.

The new moon that marks Chinese New Year occurs at 1:48 p.m. Feb. 18 in Hawaii. However, the determining factor for marking Chinese New Year is when the moon is new in China. The moon that is new in China is on Feb. 19, on the other side of the international date line, so that is the day around the world for marking Chinese New Year in 2015.

In early February, the Southern Cross, or Crux, rises around 1:30 a.m., is due south around 4:15 a.m. and sets in the south-southwest as day breaks at 6 a.m. By the end of February, Crux rises at 11:30 p.m., is due south at 2:30 a.m. and sets before daybreak.

February Sky Map

We have redone our star maps as of 2015 so that they are good for 10 p.m. at the start of each month and 8 p.m. at the end of the month. The map shows all the favorite winter constellations like Orion and Gemini. Also note the return of the Big Dipper, whose cup is just clearing the horizon. At our more southern latitude, the Dipper does rise and set, and is missing in action every fall.

On these February evenings, you can see the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia at the same time; usually only one or the other is visible. The map shows how either starry pattern can help you find the North Star.

While northern stars like those of the Big Dipper are lower in the islands — so low the dipper rises and sets here — the stars of the southern sky are higher in the sky in Hawaii. And, much as you can catch Crux in the predawn hours in February in the islands, the earlier evening is a good time to find blue-white Canopus, the second-brightest star in the sky. Canopus can’t be seen north of latitude 40 or so, which means viewers from Boston, Seattle, etc. never get to see the sky’s second-brightest star.