Monthly sky – February 2026

Here are some details on the Moon’s phases, close approaches of planets and other astronomical events to look for in February.

February 1: Conjunction – Close approach of the Moon and the open star cluster M44 (the Beehive). Visible in the southeast, throughout the night.

February 1: Full Moon (100%) at 5:09 p.m. EST.

February 3: End of Uranus’s retrograde motion. The planet reaches the end of its retrograde phase, ceasing its westward drift among the constellations and resuming its “usual” eastward motion. This reversal of direction is a periodic phenomenon experienced by all outer planets a few months after opposition.

Retrograde motion is a perspective effect caused by Earth’s orbit around the Sun. As Earth follows its annual path, our viewpoint changes, making the apparent positions of the planets appear to shift back and forth across the sky, superimposed on their slow eastward progression through the constellations.

February 9: Last Quarter Moon (50%) at 7:42 a.m. EST.

February 10: Moon at apogee (40%) at 11:51 a.m. EST—its farthest point from Earth (404,537 km). The distance between Earth and the Moon varies because the Moon’s orbit is not perfectly circular: it is slightly oval, tracing a path known as an ellipse. During this monthly elliptical orbit around Earth, the Moon’s distance varies by about 14%, from 356,500 km at perigee (its closest approach to Earth) to about 406,700 km at apogee (its farthest point).

February 15: Conjunction – Close approach of Saturn (mag +1.0) and Neptune (mag +7.9). Visible in the west after sunset until around 8 p.m. EST.

February 17: New Moon (0%) at 7:01 a.m. EST.

February 17: Annular solar eclipse from 4:57 to 9:27 a.m. EST. The annular eclipse will be visible from Antarctica, South Africa, Madagascar and the southern tip of South America.

This is called an annular eclipse because the Moon’s apparent size is too small to fully cover the Sun’s disk, leaving a very bright ring of light visible around it. You must use certified eclipse glasses to observe the phenomenon safely.

February 18: Conjunction – Close approach of Mercury (mag −0.1) and the Moon (2%).

February 19: Conjunction – Close approach of Saturn (mag +1.4), the Moon (5%) and Neptune (mag +8.3).

February 19: Mercury at its greatest elongation in the evening sky. The planet will reach its greatest elongation from the Sun during its February–March 2026 evening apparition. It will shine brightly at magnitude −0.6.

February 20: Conjunction – Close approach of Saturn (mag +1.1) and Neptune (mag +8.2).

February 20: Mercury at its greatest altitude in the evening sky. From Montréal, this apparition will be reasonably well placed but will nonetheless remain challenging to observe, reaching a maximum altitude of about 15° above the horizon at sunset on February 21.

February 23: Conjunction – Close approach of Uranus (mag +7.4) and the Moon (44%).

February 23: Conjunction – Close approach of the Moon (44%) and the open star cluster M45 (the Pleiades). Visible from sunset until moonset around 1 a.m. EST on February 24.

February 24: First Quarter Moon (50%) at 7:27 a.m. EST.

February 24: Moon at perigee (55%) at 6:14 p.m. EST—its closest point to Earth (370,172 km). It will reach its closest point in its orbit around Earth and appear slightly larger than at other times. During its monthly elliptical orbit around Earth, the Moon’s distance varies by about 14%, from 356,500 km at perigee (its closest approach to Earth) to 406,700 km at apogee (its farthest point).

February 26: Conjunction – Close approach of Jupiter (mag −2.4) and the Moon (77%).

February 28: Alignment of 6 planets from sunset:

• Group 1: In the west, with Venus (mag −3.7), Mercury (mag −0.1), Neptune (mag +8.1) and Saturn (mag +1.0).
• Group 2: Uranus in the south (mag +5.8).
• Group 3: In the southeast, with Jupiter (mag −2.4) and the Moon (92%), appearing farther east.

February 28: Conjunction – Close approach of the Moon (93%) and the open star cluster M44 (the Beehive). Visible in the southeast throughout the night.