The month of February 2026 offers sky watchers exceptional celestial events that will occur throughout the month. The stargazing community has already witnessed the full Snow Moon rise that took place on February 1 and now they are anticipating NASA’s historic moon mission, along with Southern Hemisphere meteor showers and an annular solar eclipse and the unique parade of six planets that will occur at the end of the month.
Historical lunar mission and meteor activity
According to reports, NASA’s Artemis II mission will begin on February 6. The astronauts in this mission will test deep-space systems around the moon for the first time in more than 50 years.
Skywatchers in the Southern Hemisphere can prepare for the Alpha Centaurids meteor shower on February 8 and 9. Although the shower is minor, it produces bright fireball screens. The best viewing time occurs at midnight, when the Centaurus emitter reaches its highest point and moonlight interference remains low.
Solar eclipse and dark sky mid-month
On February 17th there will be an annular solar eclipse that will create a breathtaking “ring of fire” effect. This is only possible in the far southern regions of the world, while partial solar eclipses are visible in South America and southern Africa.
On the same day there will be a New Moon phase that will provide optimal viewing conditions for deep-sky objects such as Bode’s Galaxy and comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos), which will be at the closest point to our planet.
Mercury and six-planetary alignment
On February 19, stargazers will be able to see Mercury after sunset as it shines low in the western sky. More interestingly, on February 28, the sky will show a rare parade of six planets, when Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune line up along the ecliptic, offering stargazers a memorable end to February 2026.
