The moon enters its new phase for February 2025 tonight, leaving the skies nice and dark for observing the many bright planets currently visible in the night sky.
The new moon occurs Feb. 27, at 7:45 p.m. EST (0045 GMT Feb. 28), in New York, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory.
Tomorrow (Feb. 28), the one-day-old moon will pass in front of Mercury for observers in Australia and the south Pacific, and on March 1 the moon will make a close pass to Venus.
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A new moon occurs when the sun, moon and Earth are lined up. From a vantage point on Earth, the sun and moon share the same celestial longitude, a projection of the Earth’s own longitude lines on the celestial sphere. This alignment is also called a conjunction. New moons are invisible unless the moon passes directly in front of the sun, producing a solar eclipse (the next is on March 29). Lunar phases depend on the position of the moon relative to Earth, so the moon enters its new phase at the same time all over the world.
In some calendrical systems — notably Hebrew, Muslim and Chinese — new moons begin the lunar months. In the Islamic calendar a month starts when the young crescent moon is first observed after sunset; the timing of such observations varies slightly with one’s location on Earth. The crescent that appears after the February new moon on March 1 will mark the beginning of Ramadan, one of the most important periods of religious observance for devout Muslims.
In the Jewish calendar, Feb. 28 is the last day of the month of Shevat, and in the traditional Chinese calendar it is the first day of the second month, called Xingyuè (杏月), or Apricot Month.
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Visible planets
A day after the moon reaches its new phase it will occult the planet Mercury as seen from locations in the eastern Indian Ocean, Australia, and the western south Pacific islands. As the moon will be only a day old, the occultation will be during the day for most observers, and very close to sunset for those at the extreme eastern part of the region where it is visible. It is important to be cautious when observing any stars, planets or even the moon itself when it is near the sun; accidentally looking at the sun through even low-power optical aids like binoculars or spotter scopes can cause permanent damage to one’s retinas — up to and including blindness.
The places where the occultation happens close to sunset are relatively remote. One is Tarawa, in Kiribati, where Mercury passes behind the moon at 5:10 p.m. local time. At that point the sun is still relatively high in the sky; sunset isn’t until 6:42 p.m. local time. Mercury reappears at 6:25 p.m. when the sun is still up and the sky will be relatively light; the moon will likely only be just visible about 18 degrees high in the west.
On the night of the new moon itself, from New York City, at sunset one will be able to see Venus, Jupiter and Mars well above the horizon. Mercury is more challenging, as the planet sets at 7 p.m. and sunset is at 5:45 p.m. local time. If one looks west at about 6 p.m. one can see Mercury about 10 degrees above the horizon, but the relative brightness of the sky will make it hard to see.
Venus, by contrast, is 27 degrees high in the west and bright enough that it is one of the first objects visible after sunset. It will likely be the first “star” one sees in the evening.
Looking up a full 71 degrees from the southern horizon, one can see Jupiter as the sky gets dark; by 7 p.m. it is still high (67 degrees) above the horizon. Jupiter is directly above the bright star Aldebaran, in the constellation Taurus (the Bull) and one can see the difference in color; Aldebaran is distinctly more orange than Jupiter is. Jupiter sets at 1:30 a.m. Feb. 28.
Moving eastward, one can see Mars, which at 7 p.m. is also high in the southeast at 55 degrees. Mars sets at 4:21 a.m. on Feb. 28, and as such is visible most of the night. The planet will form a small triangle with Castor and Pollux, the heads of Gemini, the Twins. Castor will be the higher of the two; Mars will be to the right and distinctly reddish.
Closer to the equator Mercury will be no easier to observe; in San Juan, Puerto Rico, sunset on Feb. 27 is at 6:30 p.m., and Mercury is 13 degrees high in the west; by 6:52 p.m. — civil twilight — it is about 9 degrees above the western horizon. Mercury sets at 7:32 p.m. local time. Venus, by contrast, is much higher in the sky — a full 29 degrees above the horizon, and it sets at 8:38 p.m. local time.
Jupiter is almost straight up in the hours near sunset. Jupiter transits at 6:35 p.m., and while it won’t be really visible until about a half hour after sunset, it will still be at an altitude of 82 degrees. From the latitude of San Juan, the planet appears to be in the northern half of the sky. Mars is in the east-northeast, about 60 degrees above the horizon by 7 p.m. As in New York, it will appear near Castor and Pollux but the two stars will be below and, respectively, to the left and right of Mars. The Red Planet sets at 3:47 a.m. local time on Feb. 28.
In the Southern Hemisphere, Mercury will be lost in the solar glare; it is only 7 degrees above the horizon at sunset, which is at 7:32 p.m. in Buenos Aires. The sun sets later than in the Northern Hemisphere as it is still austral summer. Venus is in the west northwest, and sets at 8:25 p.m. but is lower in the sky than in New York; only about 10 degrees above the horizon at sunset; observing it will require a clear sky and a flat horizon.
By 8:00 p.m. Jupiter is the north-northwest, 31 degrees above the horizon with Aldebaran above it, rather than below. In Buenos Aires, Jupiter sets at 12:03 a.m. on March 28. Mars is about 25 degrees high in the north-northwest at 8 p.m., and sets at 2:22 a.m. on March 28. Castor and Pollux will be below the red planet and to the right, with Castor marking the bottom point of a triangle formed with Pollux as the rightmost point.
Constellations
In mid-northern latitudes, by about 7 p.m. the Big Dipper will be rising in the northeast, with the “bowl” facing north (to the left), and the “handle” pointing to the horizon. The two stars at one end of the Dipper are called Dubhe and Merak. The Big Dipper is an asterism, a group of stars that isn’t an official constellation but widely recognized; it is part of Ursa Major, the Great Bear. Dubhe is not only the brightest star in Ursa Major but the name “Dubhe” is an Arabic word for “bear.”
Dubhe and Merak point to Polaris, the North Star and brightest star in Ursa Minor, the Little Bear. Using those same “pointers” one can go in the opposite direction, and find Leo, the Lion, rising above the eastern horizon. The two stars at the back of the Dipper’s bowl, called Megrez and Phecda, point to the star Regulus, Leo’s brightest star.
Turning southwards one will see Canis Major, Orion, and Taurus; at the end of February the three constellations are due south and at their highest in the hours after sunset. Orion’s belt of three stars is visible even from city locations, as is Sirius, the “Dog Star” in Canis Major.
Looking northward from Polaris and going towards the zenith, one will see Auriga, the charioteer, and its brightest star Capella. Facing north looking slightly below Capella and to the left one sees Perseus, the legendary Greek hero, and looking further towards the horizon, opposite Polaris from the Big Dipper, is Cassiopeia, shaped like a “W” with the top of the W facing Polaris.
As the night progresses observers can watch Virgo rise by about 11 p.m. The Big Dipper can help here; using the handle one can “arc to Arcturus” by drawing a sweeping arc to Arcturus, an orange-yellow star in Boötes, the Herdsman, and then keep going to reach Spica, the brightest star in Virgo. The Dipper will be high in the northeast, with the bowl facing down and to the left.
In the Southern Hemisphere’s mid latitudes, it is fully dark by about 8:30 p.m. The Southern Cross is rising in the southeast; to the right of it – southwards – one can see Centaurus, the Centaur, and in it Alpha Centauri, also called Rigil Kentaurus, the sun’s nearest stellar neighbor.
There is no equivalent of Polaris in the southern skies; one can use Crux, the Southern Cross, to point in the direction of the Southern Celestial Pole, but the constellations in that region such as Chamaeleon and Octans (the Octant) are fainter and none are exactly on the South Celestial Pole.
To find the pole, one can draw an imaginary line through the center of Crux (along what would be the vertical part of the cross) and keep going until you hit another bright star, called Achernar, which will be on the opposite side and about the same distance from the Pole as the Cross; on Feb. 27 at about 8:30 p.m. it will be in the southwest about 39 degrees above the horizon. The South Celestial Pole is about halfway between them.
Looking upwards in the southeast — following the Milky Way, if one is in a dark sky site — one encounters the three constellations that make up Argo, the legendary ship that carried Jason and the Argonauts: Puppis the deck, Vela the sail, and Carina the keel. Even if one can’t see the Milky Way because of city lights, the “clustering” of relatively bright stars in the region is noticeable. Vela, the sail, is a rough circle of eight medium-bright stars. To the right of Vela is Carina, whose brightest star is Canopus, one of the most luminous stars in the solar neighborhood; it is a full 71 degrees above the horizon and a bright white.
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