In the last weeks of February, those with a cloudless night and an observant eye (possibly aided by a telescope) can experience a “planetary parade.”  A six-planet alignment will be visible in the early evening. 

See what you can discover with NASA’s directional assistance:  “In mid-February, Saturn will drop to the horizon as Venus and Mercury climb, meeting in the west to southwest sky.  Jupiter will be high in the sky.  Uranus will be found in the southern sky and Neptune will be found near Saturn.”

In honor of this celestial phenomenon, here is a poem by Sara Teasdale for this month’s Gathering of Poetry.

February Twilight 

I stood beside a hill
Smooth with new-laid snow,
A single star looked out
From the cold evening glow.

There was no other creature
That saw what I could see—
I stood and watched the evening star
As long as it watched me.

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Graphic credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Bibliographic credit: In the public domain, this poem was first published in Poetry Magazine, 1924