February Night Sky: Some planets not visible to the naked eye due to 'combust'

People who like to stargaze the night sky might run into some problems this month. Specifically, it'll be a bit harder to view certain planets in the solar system due to an outer space phenomenon known as 'combust'. Read on to find out what 'combust' means. 

What does Combust mean?

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'Combust' here refers to any celestial body that appears to be in such close proximity of the sun that it's impossible to observe with the naked eye. A very good example of this is the moon. If you observe the moon 18-24 hours after the new moon phase, you can observe this phenomenon in action. Or rather, you won't be able to see the moon because most of it will be hidden by the sun's own brightness. Just like the moon, when a planet is near solar conjunction, it also results in a combust phenomenon. According to space.com 5 planets from our solar system will be combust this February. 

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February Night Sky 

In the month of February, from our perspective (the Earth's), Venus, Jupiter and Saturn will be on the far side of the Sun, while Mercury will be positioned between the Earth and the Sun. Jupiter and Saturn may begin to be visible at the end of the month during early dawn, but the rising sun may make it difficult to observe them. The only planet which will be visible to the naked eye throughout the month will be Mars. In October 2020, Mars was visible very brightly as it passed very close to the Earth's orbit. As of now, it's in the opposite direction to the Earth, about 77 million miles away (125 million kilometres). 

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Later in 2021, the situation will be reversed. During the end of October 2021, the night sky will be a mirror image of the sky we have right now, everything in the exact opposite positions. All these planets that are hard to view right now because of 'combust' will be clearly visible at that time. At sunset, Venus will be brightly visible to the west of southwest. Saturn and Jupiter will be bright in the night sky. Mercury will be shortly visible in the early hours of the morning. Unsurprisingly, the only planet which won't be visible when the situations are reversed is Mars, which will be hidden under the Sun's 'combust'. 

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