February stargazing is so special in Butler. Sure it’s cold, but the extra-special celestial jewels make it worth bundling up for!

If you’re not already in the darker countryside, try to get out there. But even with light-polluted skies, I know you’ll like what you see.

The first week, or so, of February will be a bit messed up because of bright moonlight. This weekend kicks off with a full moon. February full moons have several nicknames. One of the most popular is the “Snow Moon,” for obvious reasons. This time of year, the full moon takes a high arc in the sky as it rises at sunset and sets at sunrise, hampering stargazing with lunar whitewashing.

On Monday night, Feb. 2, we’ll have a lunar confrontation. The still nearly-full moon will cross in front of, eclipsing the moderately bright star Regulus. Lunar cover-ups like this are called occultations.

Shortly after moonrise, around 6:30 p.m., look for the moderately bright star Regulus just below the moon. You might need binoculars or a small telescope to see it because of the moon’s glow. Around 8:49 p.m., Regulus will disappear behind the lower limb of the moon. An hour later, at 9:51 p.m., Regulus will pop out from behind the upper right side of the moon’s disk.

As the moon orbits the Earth, it travels eastward among the stars, occasionally passing in front of brighter stars, like Regulus.

Let’s hope and pray for clear skies, because this occultation will be one of the best celestial happenings in 2026!

The brightest star of evening stargazing this month isn’t a star, but the very bright planet Jupiter, nestled in Gemini, a member of the great winter constellations known by many as either the winter hexagon, the winter wreath or even the winter football. Personally, I like to call it “Orion and his Gang.”

You don’t have to know your constellations at all to find Jupiter. Just look for the brightest starlike object you can find in the early southeastern sky, and that’s it!

The Jovian giant made its closest approach to Earth last month, but Jupiter and Earth are still close to each other in their respective orbits around the sun — a little over 400 million miles at the beginning of the month. Jupiter’s also still available most of these long winter nights, rising a little before sunset and setting as morning twilight approaches.

With even a decent pair of binoculars or a small telescope, you should see up to four of Jupiter's moons dancing around the 88,000-mile-wide planet in orbital periods of two to 17 days. On any given night, Jupiter's brightest moons will appear as tiny stars on both sides of the great planet. Some nights, you may not see all four, because one or more are behind Jupiter or camouflaged in front of it.

You might also see some of Jupiter's cloud bands stretching across the planet. Jupiter’s famous Great Red Spot, a storm that’s been raging for hundreds of years, is also available through larger telescopes, depending on where Jupiter is in its rapid rotation. Sky Guide is a great free App to see when the red spot will be facing Earth and when it’ll be close to Jupiter’s meridian, the best time to look for it.

Honesty, the red spot is not that red. It’s somewhere between pinkish red and salmon.

It’s important to remember that whenever you’re observing anything through a telescope, you should take long, continuous views. That will allow your eye to get used to the light level in your eyepiece and catch clearer patches of Earth’s atmosphere as they pass by, giving a better view of your target. Honestly, some nights, even if it’s clear, just won’t give you decent visibility, especially if it’s windy.

Saturn is also available in February, although this is its swan song. The beginning of February is the best time to view Saturn. The ringed wonder of the solar system begins the evening in the lower southwestern sky, setting by 9 p.m. By the end of February, Saturn is already in the very low western sky as evening twilight sets in.

You should easily be able to resolve Saturn’s vast ring system and maybe even some of its moons, especially Titan, the moon larger than the planet Mercury. Viewing Saturn for the first time through a telescope is magical.

In the eastern sky, there are already signs of spring. One of the majestic constellations is Leo the Lion, which really resembles a lion. Look for a backward question mark leaning to the left that outlines the chest and head of the lion. Regulus, which will be eclipsed by the moon this coming night, is Leo’s brightest star and is situated at the bottom, or at the dot of the question mark, and serves as the great lion’s heart. To the lower left of the backward question mark is a triangle of moderately bright stars that make the feline’s derriere and tail.

Leo the lion will eventually chase Orion and the rest of his gang out of the night sky this coming spring.

In the northeastern sky, the Big Dipper is standing on its handle. The Big Dipper makes up the rear end and tail of the constellation Ursa Major, the Big Bear. Close by, Cassiopeia the Queen and Cepheus the King hang high in the northwest heavens in the early evening. These constellations and others are close to Polaris, the North Star, shining directly above the Earth’s north pole.

Finally, if you’re not crazy about winter and you’re an early morning riser, you can get a preview of summer a little before morning twilight, at least in the celestial dome. You can see the same constellations that you will see in the evenings in the early summer.

Warmer times are coming!

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is also the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and at adventurepublications.net. Contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.