Krioma.net

(written for astrosoc.org.uk)
Sky Chart: http://www.krioma.net/skycharts/2005/large/feb.gif
Moon – click here for a Java applet to get the current phase and some other information on the Moon.
Sun: Autumn and spring are the best time for auroral displays produced from the Earth's interaction with the solar wind and so is a good time to look out for these, but in Birmingham you are very unlikely to see these. The Sun is currently in a minimum of activity and so the sun spots visible are small in number - never mind the large cloud formations across the UK! See spaceweather.com for more information about the Solar activity. Oh lots of solar activity has been reported recently and so have aurora over Birmingham.
Mercury: This is a hard object to observe full stop especially at the moment. It is at superior conjunction till the 14th and is unobservable until early March when it will appear in the evening sky.
Venus: Hard to observe. The best time to observe it is just before sunrise but since this is aimed at students then I should just write unobservable.
Mars: It is still quite faint and is only rising at 05:16 during the middle of the month so like Venus is basically unobservable.
Jupiter: Bright and easy to see. It is current in Virgo and is quite low in the sky in the early evening. Well worth observing. Click here for a Java Applet of the positions of Jupiter's Moons.
Saturn: It is now past opposition but is still very bright. The rings are currently titled by a side 23 deg so the planets southern pole is facing us. This means that the moons orbiting this gas giant will be found above / below the planet.
Uranus / Neptune / Pluto: All very hard to see. Uranus and Neptune are solar conjunction during this month (25th and 4th respectively)
Meteors: Only active shower worth trying to observe is the alpha Aurigids – maximum peak is between 6th and 9th and has an expected rate of about 10 an hour.
Comets: Comet Machholz is still around but becoming fainter. As always more information about comets can be found on the BAA Comet Section: http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jds/