Visual Observing Calendar
February 2026
Listed below are dates with notable astronomical events that can be seen with just the unaided eye during this month. Expect more in-depth coverage of some events to be made in the weekly featured sights column, which drops every Sunday.
Early Month: Last chance to catch Saturn under a dark sky
Deneb is still visible low in the Northeast at nightfall
Corvus rises around midnight
February 1: Jupiter due South at midnight
February 2: Moon occults Regulus (maybe!)
February 3: Cross-Quarter Day, winter is half over!
February 5: Gemini well placed in the Eastern sky at nightfall
February 7: Moon meets Spica
February 9: Third Quarter Moon
February 10-11: Apogee Moon very near Antares
Mid Month: The Summer Triangle well above the Eastern Horizon at first light
Young Moon season is here, scout out an observing spot with a good West
February 17: New Moon
February 18: Moon meets Mercury
February 19: Algol at minimum at 12:33am EST
Moon meets Saturn
February 20: Mercury at greatest elevation
February 21: Algol at minimum at 9:22am EST
February 23: Moon meets the Pleiades
February 24: Perigee First Quarter Moon
February 25: Venus sets an hour after the Sun
February 26: Mercury and Venus at their closest
Moon meets Jupiter
February 27: Moon meets Castor and Pollux
Late Month: The Big Dipper rides at its highest near midnight
Venus and Saturn converging in the dusk sky
Corvus sets at first light