February 2025 Sky Highlights: Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Rare Lunar Occultations

This month offers dazzling planetary views, a Moon-Pleiades occultation, and opportunities to observe Uranus and Neptune with binoculars.

Venus dominates the evening sky, reaching peak brightness midmonth and showcasing a crescent phase through telescopes.
Mars continues to shine brightly in Gemini, offering telescopic views of surface features as it transitions from retrograde motion to an easterly path later in the month.
Jupiter remains prominent in Taurus, with its moons providing multiple transit and shadow events visible through small telescopes.
The Moon occults the Pleiades star cluster on February 5/6, a rare event visible from the western United States and other regions along similar longitude lines.
Uranus and Neptune are observable with binoculars, with Neptune forming a triangular alignment with Venus and the Moon on February 1.