Moon Phases
Sunday, February 15, 2026
Waning Crescent 6% illuminated
Rise: 6:06 AM
Set: 3:17 PM
Eye on the Night Sky, February 15, 2026
Sunday, February 15, 2026
Today:
Looking due east at 7:10 this evening, Leo the Lion begins to climb above the horizon, with the Twins of Gemini much higher. About halfway between them, and halfway up from the horizon, search for a faint sprinkling of stars, called the “Beehive”, a swarm of stars in the faint constellation Cancer, the Crab. Looking slightly away from them will make it easier to see them.
Monday:
The Milky Way is showing off in the dark, moonless evening skies, arching from southeast and into the south, climbing above Orion and nearly overhead. It then shimmers down toward the northwestern horizon. During March, the Milky Way, and Orion, ease lower into the southwest.
Tuesday:
Tonight’s New Moon will facilitate the detection the most distant object human eyes can see, the Andromeda galaxy, a faint smudge of light, one half of the way above the west-northwest horizon, as twilight ends after 7:00 PM. It appears at the hip of the constellation Andromeda, on the side toward her mother, Cassiopeia. A pair of binoculars will help.
Start Chart:
Ground Hog Day Celestial Shadows!
The Moon passes right in front of the star Regulus during the evening of February 2nd, 2026.
The Moon will be just one day past Full when it passes between us and the star Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, the Lion, often depicted as the front of his chest.
It is complicated, however.
The Earth’s rotation causes the stars, as well as the Moon, to rise higher in the east. The Moon’s orbital motion, however, goes the opposite way, with the Moon actually moving to the lower left, toward the horizon, but much, much more slowly. This means the Moon appears just above the star Regulus before 8:50 PM, and then its true motion causes it to cover Regulus from 8:53 PM to 9:58 PM. As the Moon continues its motion, Regulus re-emerges on the upper right edge of the Moon.
This event is called an “occultation”, and is quite rare when happening to a bright star. They do come in cycles though, with additional occulations of Regulus expected over the next few years.
This program is a partnership between the Fairbanks Museum and Vermont Public.