CzSkY

February 3 – C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) passes over the galaxy NGC 7412 (~11th magnitude).
February 4–5 – C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) passes about 30′ from the Grus Quartet (10th–13th magnitude): NGC 7552, NGC 7582, NGC 7590, NGC 7599.
February 6 – C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) passes about 10′ from the galaxy IC 5325 (~11th magnitude).
February 9 – C/2026 A1 (MAPS) passes over the galaxy NGC 1398 (~10th magnitude).

Full Moon: Sunday, February 1 at 23:09 CET
Last Quarter: Monday, February 9
Before dawn on February 3: a very close conjunction with the star Regulus ⭐️
- From the eastern USA through Central America to Brazil, an occultation of Regulus by the Moon should be visible.
- Here (Central Europe), the Moon comes closest to Regulus around 05:00 CET.
Morning of February 7: you can spot the waning Moon at dawn near Spica in Virgo ⭐️♍

Mercury (−1.2 mag): very low in the evening sky and not easy to observe — try shortly after sunset.
Venus (−4 mag): not observable yet (theoretically only in the daytime sky).
Mars (1.2 mag): not observable, angularly close to the Sun.
Jupiter (−2.6 mag): high above the eastern horizon in the evening in Gemini — ideal evening visibility right now.
Saturn (1.1 mag): dropping toward the west in the evening → observe sooner rather than later; the ring system is seen more “from below” and has started opening up slightly.
Uranus (5.7 mag): below the Pleiades, currently hard to see due to the nearby waxing Moon.
Neptune (7.9 mag): near Saturn, and these two planets are closing in angularly.

Solar activity is elevated again. Over the weekend, activity in region AR 4366 suddenly increased: several larger sunspots plus many small ones — a clear sign of mixed magnetic fields.
On Sunday, there were higher-category M-class flares and even the strongest X-class flare(s).
So far, no plasma ejections (CMEs) — we’ll see what happens as the week develops.

Author: MaG, VIC, Lada