Between Sunday 14th and Wednesday 17th February at 5.30pm look to the South West. Low down just peeping over the horizon you will see Venus, and just above it Jupiter.

There will be no other stars around as they are not bright enough to pierce the light pollution. So if you do see two bright ’stars’ low down, you know that they can only be the planets Venus and Jupiter.

Hopefully Tuesday 16th February will be a clear night because at 5.30pm you can see Venus, Jupiter and the Crescent Moon above – a really wonderful sight.

Sunday 21st February at 6.50pm the Quarter Moon passes in front of the small Pleiades constellation, sometimes referred to as “the Seven Sisters“. Providing we are blessed with a clear sky, you will see the seven sisters disappearing from the sky one by one, as the moon blocks them from our vision.

Mars is still a bright object this month, and you will find the red planet passing through the Cancer constellation.

Cassipoeia is one of my favourite constellations because it is a striking “W” shape, and easy to spot. Look out for it this month and follow the arrow direction formed by the last three stars on the right hand side. Just below Cassiopeia is the M31 Galaxy in Andromeda. A great sight through binoculars or a telescope.

You can even see M31 with the naked eye on a clear night, but you may be disappointed that it is a bit fuzzy.Bear in mind however that it is over 2 million light years away! The light photons reaching your eye left Andromeda when our ancester Homo Ergaster first appeared on Earth.

John McNally