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[Music]

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what's up for February the best time to

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spot Mercury Mars disappears and what's

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going on with Betelgeuse the first week

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or so of February is a good time to try

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and spot the planet Mercury the

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innermost planet will be at its highest

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elevation above the horizon for the year

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for viewers in the northern hemisphere

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look very low in the West about half an

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hour after sunset the best viewing is at

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the end of the first week around

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February 6th and 7th when the planet

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will be at its brightest on the morning

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of February 18th sky watchers in North

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America can watch as Mars disappears

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behind the moon for about an hour in an

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event called an occultation moon mars

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occultation czar visible from somewhere

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on earth about twice per year but like

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eclipses you have to be in the right

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place at the right time to catch them

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the pair have to be high enough in the

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sky to be easily seen and if it's after

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sunrise where you are you'll need a

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telescope for viewers in the Eastern

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time zone the occultation begins soon

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after local sunrise but you may be able

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to see Mars disappearing behind the moon

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with a telescope or good binoculars and

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it's still worth looking just before

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dawn to see Mars extremely close to the

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crescent moon observers in the central

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time zone will be able to watch the

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beginning of the occultation in the

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pre-dawn sky as Mars slips behind the

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moon the end of the occultation takes

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place after sunrise for you the Mountain

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Time Zone has the best viewing as both

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the beginning and end of the occultation

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take place in your sky before dawn

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although the pair will be close to the

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horizon at the start of the event and in

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the Pacific time zone you'll be able to

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see the end of the occultation as Mars

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pops back into view from behind the

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moon's dark side you'll just need a

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clear view low in the southeast sky to

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see it finally this month there's been

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lots of interest lately in the left

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shoulder of Orion specifically the

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bright red giant star known as

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Betelgeuse in late 2019 Betelgeuse which

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is normally one of the brightest stars

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in the sky

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dimmed quite a bit since this massive

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star is known to be of the type that

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eventually ends its life in a supernova

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explosion many folks have wondered if

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the recent dimming is a warning that

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Betelgeuse is about to blow

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well astronomers say don't hold your

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breath

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although it could explode tomorrow

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astronomers think it's more likely to

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happen on a longer timeline probably

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more like a hundred thousand years from

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now and it's unlikely to signal its

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demise in advance

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fortunately Betelgeuse is far enough

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away that when it does go supernova

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we won't experience any negative effects

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from it like radiation but it will be

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quite brilliant in the skies for weeks

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here are the phases of the Moon for

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February you can catch up on all of

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NASA's current and future missions at

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nasa.gov I'm Preston dykes from NASA's

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Jet Propulsion Laboratory and that's

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what's up for this month