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sky_highlights [2010/06/14 18:18] admin |
sky_highlights [2010/07/29 21:39] (current) admin |
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| - | ====== Sky Highlights for June 2010 ====== | + | ====== Sky Highlights for August 2010 ====== |
| - | |June 4 |Last quarter moon| | + | |August 3 |Last quarter moon| |
| - | |June 12|New moon| | + | |August 10|New moon| |
| - | |June 19|First quarter moon| | + | |August 16|First quarter moon| |
| - | |June 21|Summer Solstice| | + | |August 24|Full Moon. Known as Sturgeon Moon| |
| - | |June 26|Full Moon. Known as the Flower, Rose or Strawberry Moon| | + | |June 26|Full Moon – this is known as a Sturgeon Moon (the Native Americans of the great lakes region named this because this is the month of year best for catching these large fish)| |
| - | |June 28|Mercury in superior conjunction| | + | |
| - | ===== Planets Visible in June ===== | + | ===== Planets Visible in August ===== |
| - | * Venus— At its highest for the year in the west after sunset, setting by 11PM. It starts the month in Gemini, and is in Leo by end of month. | + | * Mercury - Well placed in the evening sky for observers in the Southern emisphere for most of the month, but less well for observers in the Northern Hemisphere. |
| - | * Mars— High in the west after sunset in Leo. | + | * Venus - Continues to dominate the pre-dawn sky, shining with a magnitude of -4. |
| - | * Jupiter— A bright morning star, rising at 2AM. | + | * Mars - Continues to be paired with Venus for the whole month, but gradually they are drawing apart. Venus, as always, is tethered to the Sun, while Mars is moving slowly towards opposition with the Sun on January 29, 2010. |
| - | * Saturn— In Virgo, halfway between Spica and Mars, Saturn sets by 2AM. | + | * Jupiter - It is in opposition on August 14, and visible all night long in the southern sky. There will be several spectacular transits of its moons and their shadows this month. |
| - | * Uranus— In Pisces before dawn, Uranus is only ½° above Jupiter from the 5th through the 9th of the month. | + | * Saturn - It is low in the western sky all month, and quite dim because its rings are nearly edge on to Earth, and not reflecting back any sunlight. |
| + | ===== Special Events in August ==== | ||
| + | ** Wed./Thu., August 26/27 -Quadruple Jupiter transit, 10:41 p.m.- 12:35 a.m.** | ||
| + | Jupiter is just past opposition, so that its moons and their shadows are very close together. This makes it possible for both the moon and its shadow to be in transit across the planet’s face at the same time. Tonight there’s a “double feature”: both Europa and Ganymede are in transit, as are their shadows, so that for nearly two hours all four will be in view simultaneously. Any telescope over 90mm aperture should show the shadows, and a 125mm telescope should show Ganymede as a grey disk. Europa usually disappears into the camouflage of Jupiter’s cloud tops, and requires quite a large telescope to be seen. | ||
| - | ====== Sky Highlights for July 2010 ====== | + | ====== Sky Highlights for September 2010 ====== |
| - | |July 4|Last quarter moon| | + | |September 1|Last quarter moon| |
| - | |July 11|New moon| | + | |July 8|New moon| |
| - | |July 18|First quarter moon| | + | |July 15|First quarter moon| |
| - | |July 25|Full Moon. Known as the Hay or Thunder Moon| | + | |July 23|Full Moon. Known as the Fruit or Barley Moon (harvest time)| |
| - | |July 30|Mars and Saturn are less than 2° apart| | + | |
| - | ===== Planets Visible in July ===== | + | ===== Planets Visible in September ===== |
| + | * Mercury - Visible in the morning sky in September just before dawn. | ||
| + | * Venus - The brightest “star” in the sky is getting ready to disappear from view by October as it passes between the Earth and the Sun but remains visible this month. | ||
| + | * Jupiter - See above. The dominant show of the month, as it reaches opposition on September 21. High and bright all month. | ||
| + | * Saturn - Not visible at all in September as it disappears behind the Sun this month. | ||
| + | * Uranus - Although it's the third-largest planet in the solar system, it is so far from the Sun that you need binoculars to see it. It spends all but the first couple of weeks in the constellation Pisces. It stages its best appearance in September, when it is at its brightest and is in the sky all night. | ||
| + | * Neptune - Although at its best appearance in August, it remains a good target for medium aperture telescopes. | ||
| - | * Venus— Appears low in the west after sunset, it will begin to sink lower for the next few months. | ||
| - | * Mars— In the western sky at sunsetto the upper left of Venus, closing in on Saturn. Mars sets by 11 PM. | ||
| - | * Jupiter— Now rising around midnight, Jupiter is a bright morning star in the southeast at dawn. | ||
| - | * Saturn— Setting at midnight, still in Virgo, closing in on Mars and Venus. | ||
sky_highlights.txt · Last modified: 2010/07/29 21:39 by admin · [Old revisions]
