Published on Feb. 1, 2026, 11:00 AM
Another six planet parade becomes visible this month. Don’t miss out!
With the Full Snow Moon kicking off the month, February’s darkening nights will be great for stargazing, and spotting the new ‘six planet parade’ stretching across the evening sky.
Check your weather forecasts throughout the month, as any clear night will be a great opportunity to get outside and take in the wonders of the universe.
The astronomical events of February 2026, in calendar format. To the top right of each panel of the calendar is the phase of the Moon for that day. Major lunar phases (Full, Last Quarter, New, First Quarter) are shown with a large image of the Moon, except when there is an exceptional event occurring on that date. The positions of the planets in the new “planet parade” are shown for the latter half of the month (the size of the planets in each is exaggerated for display). (Scott Sutherland/NASA SVS/Stellarium)
The Moon
On the very first night, the Full Snow Moon will light up the sky. This is the first ‘normal’ sized Full Moon, following a string of four supermoons that started in October. That is unlikely to diminish its grandeur, though, especially if we take advantage of the mysterious “Moon Illusion” in the evening or just before dawn.
Following that, from the 2nd to the 8th, the Waning Gibbous Moon will shine, with the Last Quarter Moon on the night of the 9th. A Waning Crescent Moon will be in the sky on the nights after, getting thinner and thinner, and rising closer and closer to dawn, up until the 16th.
The phases of the Moon for February 2026, with each image produced with data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. (NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio/Scott Sutherland)
The New Moon occurs on the 17th, which makes the night around that date the best for stargazing, as they will be the darkest of the month.
Following the New Moon, we will see the Waxing Crescent Moon in our evening skies from the 18th through the 23rd. During that time, the Moon will be very close to the planet Mercury on the night of the 18th, and near Saturn on the 19th.