Jupiter and Venus keep narrowing in on each other. ■ As soon as you first see Venus through the fading twilight this evening, look below it for the very thin waxing crescent Moon, just a day and a half old, as shown below. For more see Matt Wedel's Binocular Highlight column and map in the February 2022 issue of Sky & Telescope, page 43. The tree currently hangs downward from its base, marked by 15 Mon. The stars outlining the Christmas Tree are only 7th and 8th magnitude. If you've got big binoculars or a small telescope, try next for the larger but fainter Christmas Tree Cluster, NGC 2264, at 15 Monocerotis: the 5th-magnitude star marking the tip of the Unicorn's horn above the back of his head. The elongated rectangle currently stands upright. Find them 10° to the celestial east-southeast of Betelgeuse. The brightest stars of the box pattern are 6th and 7th magnitude. It's right about where the Unicorn's eye might be in his triangular head. Many binocular starwatchers know about Monoceros's distinctive star cluster NGC 2244, a boxy little rectangular pattern in the center of the vastly dimmer Rosette Nebula. Use the constellation chart in the center of the February or March Sky & Telescope. With the Moon still out of the evening sky, now's a fine time to trace out the Unicorn's big, dim stick figure. It trots across the sky right behind Orion. ■ The Winter Triangle's inside is mostly filled by the front half of Monoceros, the dim Unicorn. Betelgeuse is above Sirius by about two fists at arm's length. ■ Spot the big, bright, equilateral Winter Triangle in the south-southeast. now, depending on how far east or west you are in your time zone. When to look? You'll know Canopus is due south when Beta Canis Majoris - Murzim the Announcer, the star about three finger-widths to the right of Sirius - is at its highest due south over your landscape. Canopus crosses the south point on the horizon just 21 minutes before Sirius does. And there, you'll need a very flat south horizon. That's far enough south that it never appears above your horizon unless you're below latitude 37° N (southern Virginia, southern Missouri, central California). ■ Have you ever seen Canopus, the second-brightest star after Sirius? Canopus lies almost due south of Sirius, by 36°. Get out your telescope and sky atlas for a go at Bob King's eight Hidden Gems in Common Deep-Sky Objects now in evening view. ■ A project before moonlight returns later this week: Certain deep-sky objects hold special surprises within or near them. In the northwest, Cassiopeia also stands on end (its brighter end) at about the same height. or so, the Big Dipper stands on its handle well up in the northeast. Watch them draw closer together day by day. Mark your calendar! The two brightest planets are quite eye-catching in the dusk. That evening they'll be ½° apart and lined up horizontally (seen from the mid-latitudes of North America). They're on their way to an eye-grabbing conjunction on March 1st. ■ Jupiter and Venus are closing in on each other in the western evening twilight, as shown in the two scenes below.
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