The Sun

	31st January 2013	5th February 2013	10th February 2013	15th February 2013	20th February 2013	25th February 2013	2nd March 2013
Sunrise	07:59 UTC	07:50 UTC	07:40 UTC	07:30 UTC	07:20 UTC	07:09 UTC	06:57 UTC
Sunset	16:52 UTC	17:03 UTC	17:13 UTC	17:23 UTC	17:33 UTC	17:42 UTC	17:52 UTC

The Moon

	Last Quarter	New Moon	First Quarter	Full Moon	Last Quarter
Date	3rd February 2013	10th February 2013	17th February 2013	25th February 2013	4th March 2013
Time	13:57 UTC	07:20 UTC	20:31 UTC	20:26 UTC	21:53 UTC

The Moon will be close to Mercury and Mars for part of the month (see entry on Mercury below) and over the evenings of February 10th – 13th a very thin crescent moon will be visible nearby. On the 11th the Moon will lie approximately 4° North of Mercury, making it a useful guide to locating the planet in the sky.

Planets

Mercury

February sees an evening apparition of Mercury in the Western sky just after Sunset, peaking between the 15th and 20th February. As indicated by the table below, Mars and the Moon will also be close by in the sky, and on 8th February, a conjunction occurs with Mars being within 15 arc-minutes (¼°) of Mercury.

		Mercury		Mars		Moon
Date	Time (UTC)	ALTITUDE °	AZIMUTH °	ALTITUDE °	AZIMUTH °	ALTITUDE °	AZIMUTH °
February 5th 2013	17:43 UTC	3.7°	243°	6.0°	242°
February 10th 2013	17:52 UTC	7.0°	245°	5.3°	246°
February 11th 2013	17:54 UTC	7.6°	246°	5.2°	246°	11.0°	249°
February 12th 2013	17:56 UTC	8.1°	246°	5.0°	247°	21.2°	242°
February 15th 2013	18:01 UTC	9.3°	248°	4.6°	249°
February 20th 2013	18:10 UTC	9.3°	253°	3.9°	253°
February 25th 2013	18:19 UTC	5.8°	260°	3.0°	257°

Mars

As noted above, Mars will be in conjunction with Mercury on February 8th, when they will be ¼° of each other. As the month progresses, Mars will be become more difficult to see as it approaches its Solar conjunction next month, and so will be lost in the glare of the Sun.

Jupiter

Jupiter is well placed, and can be easily spotted in the constellation of Taurus. On February 18th a conjunction will occur with the Moon (which is 1 day past 1st quarter) bringing the two objects about 1½° degrees apart.

Saturn

Saturn begins the month rising at about 01:00 UTC, and ends it rising at 23:20 UTC, making observations easier than earlier in the year. Saturn reached Greatest Western Quadrature at the end of January, so the rings are open as viewed from Earth, and you may be able to see their shadow cast on to the planet’s atmosphere.

Asteroids

On February 15th, Near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14 passes close to the Earth, with closest-approach at 19:26 UTC when it will be within geosynchronous orbit. It is not expected to achieve a brightness greater than about Mag. 7
More info: http://earthsky.org/space/asteroid-2012-da14-will-pass-very-close-to-earth-in-2013

Comets

Comet C/2011 L4 (Pan-STARRS) is not currently visible in the Northern Hemisphere but should be observable in March.

Meteors

Name of Shower	Date of Peak	Notes
Alpha-Aurigid	6th-9th February 2013	New Moon occurs on the 10th February 2013, aiding observation.

Occultations

Date	Time	Event	Object Occulted	Occulted by
23rd February 2013	22:54 UTC	Disappearance	60-Cancri	The Moon