{"id":274542,"date":"2026-02-01T00:13:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T00:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/274542\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T00:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T00:13:08","slug":"a-planet-parade-comes-to-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/274542\/","title":{"rendered":"A planet parade comes to town"},"content":{"rendered":"

February: it\u2019s a short month<\/a>, and it\u2019s also relatively short on stargazing<\/a> highlights. Still, patient stargazers will be rewarded with a memorable planetary alignment. And for those readers joining us from the Southern Hemisphere, there\u2019s also the Alpha Centaurids meteor shower to look forward to.<\/p>\n

February 1: Full Snow Moon<\/p>\n

This month\u2019s full moon falls on the very first day of the month, which means we were only one day away from one of the rarest lunar phenomena: a month with no full moon at all! This can only happen in February\u2014since it\u2019s the only month shorter than a full lunar cycle\u2014and last happened in 2018. There\u2019s no agreed-upon name for this phenomenon, but since it\u2019s the opposite of a blue moon\u2014the second full moon in a month with two full moons\u2014we rather like black moon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But anyway, there is a full moon this month, and appropriately enough, it\u2019s called the Snow Moon, a name that will resonate with a whole lot of people in North America right now. As per the Farmer\u2019s Almanac<\/a>, the Snow Moon will creep into the winter sky at 5:09 p.m. EST on February 1, casting its pale light over the frozen landscape.<\/p>\n

February 8: Alpha Centaurids Meteor Shower Predicted Peak<\/p>\n

The only meteors on offer this month are the Alpha Centaurids<\/a>, which are predicted to peak on February 8. Unfortunately for those of us in the frozen north, it\u2019s the Southern Hemisphere that\u2019ll get the best view of these meteors. That\u2019s because from north of the equator, the radiant point (the point from which the meteors appear to originate) never rises above the horizon. Still, that\u2019s not to say that you won\u2019t get lucky, but we don\u2019t recommend waiting out in the cold all night for a glimpse of a shooting star if you are not below the equator where summer is in full force.<\/p>\n

Related Stories<\/p>\n

Northern Lights dazzle in stunning photos from Key West to NYC to China<\/a><\/p>\n

Explore NASA\u2019s most detailed map of the night sky yet<\/a><\/p>\n

The space billboard that nearly happened<\/a><\/p>\n

Yes, the moon really can affect your sleep<\/a><\/p>\n

February 28: Six Planets in Alignment<\/p>\n

While the full moon fell on the first day of February, stargazers will have to wait until the very last day of the month for a genuine celestial highlight. But it\u2019s one that\u2019s worth waiting for: six planets in alignment! Four of the planets will be visible to the naked eye: gleaming Venus<\/a>, fleeting Mercury, resplendent Saturn and, of course, big ol\u2019 Jupiter<\/a>. The remaining participants\u2014distant cousins Neptune and Uranus\u2014will be able to join the party via binoculars or a small telescope.<\/p>\n

The planets will be strung low over the horizon<\/a> about one hour after sunset, starting with Mercury in the west, hovering in the constellation Pisces. Venus will be visible nearby, with Saturn and Neptune clustered above. Jupiter will be visible just to the right of the moon, and Uranus will sit about halfway between Jupiter and the cluster of other planets, at the same elevation as the former.<\/p>\n

All Month and Year<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one other sight that might await those looking to the sky this month\u2014and, indeed, for the rest of 2026. This year promises to be a banner year for the auroras borealis and australis<\/a>. As per Time and Date<\/a>, the reason lies with a solar phenomenon known as the coronal hole, when\u00a0 the sun\u2019s magnetic field allows large amounts of plasma to escape into the solar system. There\u2019s also a relatively high chance of coronal mass ejections, the powerful geomagnetic storms that can bathe\u00a0 much of the world\u2019s night sky in ghostly light in the right conditions.<\/p>\n

Anyway, remember that you\u2019ll get the best experience if you get away from any sources of light pollution, let your eyes acclimatize to the darkness, and check out our stargazing tips<\/a> before heading off into the night.<\/p>\n

Until next month!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"February: it\u2019s a short month, and it\u2019s also relatively short on stargazing highlights. Still, patient stargazers will be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[133802,15061,61,60,9457,17855,82,132325,41327,247],"class_list":{"0":"post-274542","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-alpha-centaurids","9":"tag-full-moon","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-meteor-shower","13":"tag-planetary-alignment","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-snow-moon","16":"tag-southern-hemisphere","17":"tag-space"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}