Derekscope

The view was spectacular and there is even the Jewelled Handle, which can be seen only once a month for some hours.

The four largest moons of Jupiter, known as the Galilean moon (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) are bright enough to be seen through binoculars ~ when observing Jupiter with a good pair of binoculars, you’ll notice this Callisto below the Jupiter’s southern limb.

Look out for the Moon tonight with Jupiter and following each night till Sunday ~ Mars lies close to a Moon on the early evening of Sunday 9th February at 6pm.
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If you are at very north of Scotland, Orkney or Shetland, The Moon will pass in front of Mars.

This will create a beautiful celestial pairing ~ you can look for this event in the constellation Taurus, reaching high in the southern sky at 20:00 / 8pm.

Ganymede transiting Jupiter – around 1:45am in the early morning on Tuesday 4th, Ganymede, the largest of Jupiter’s moons, will transit across the face of Jupiter ~ make sure you have your telescope ready and set up to get the best view.

Each of these celestial bodies brings its own unique glow:
– Moon at 22% disk illumination.
– Venus at 37% disk illumination.
– Saturn at 99% illuminated disk, despite its great distance from the Sun.

Spotting three planets Venus, Saturn, and Neptune in the evening sky.

Observing the evening skies
– You’ll be able to see Moon, firstly by a bright and easy to spot in the southwest after sunset.
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– then following Venus, a steady point of light, visible to the naked eye.
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– later on till the twilight skies gone into the dark skies between 7pm and 8.30pm, Neptune rather dim and situated close to Venus ~ you’ll need binoculars or a telescope to see it to follow by a star-hopping as your way to Neptune.

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European AstroFest London is the UK’s premier astronomy exhibition on Friday 7th February 2025, there are three floors of exhibition space with everything from the latest telescopes and equipment to astronomy books and magazines.
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More information: 2025 AstroFest, London

Look toward the western horizon shortly after sunset ~ find the Moon first, as its easiest to spot Venus which will be nearby, while deteriorating evening planet Saturn will dimmer than Venus, but still visible to the naked eye ~ binoculars or a small telescope will enhance the view.

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Weather permitting – I set up hoping to catch a glimpse of Ganymede’s shadow transit of Jupiter by animation clips.