What’s Up This Month – July 2009
July 3, 2009
Not sure what the weather’s like where you are, but here in eastern Canada, the only observing we get to do is observing the underside of clouds. But clouds don’t stay forever. And when they clear there’ll be much to see in the star-rich skies of northern summer, especially the nebulae and star clusters along the Milky Way from Cygnus through Sagittarius and on into the southern sky.
This month also marks the 40th anniversary of mankind’s first steps on the Moon. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin landed a tiny tin-can of a spacecraft on the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquility and went on a 2-hour walkabout. It was an amazing achievement.
*** From One-Minute Astronomer ***
Tired of just reading about the stars? Stargazing for Beginners takes you on an easy-to-follow tour of the stars and main constellations. No telescope required! Click here to learn more…
Celestial Events in July
Moon, Jupiter, and Neptune. The moon and Jupiter play tag on July 9 and 10. Jupiter is just east of the moon on the 9th, and just west on the 10th. And on the 11th, the 5-th magnitude star µ Capricorn sits just 17′ (about 1/4 degree) NNW of Jupiter, and Neptune sits another 17′ NNW of that. This is a great chance to spot 8th-magnitude Neptune without too much effort.
The Aquariids. See if you can spot the Aquariids meteor shower. Active from July 25-31, it’s best seen from the southern hemisphere. You might see 15-20 meteors an hour, all tracing their apparent direction back to a point in the constellation Aquarius.
Solar Eclipse. By far the biggest event this month is the total eclipse of the sun on July 22. The path of totality lies across parts of India, China, and the Pacific Ocean. If you’re traveling to see the eclipse, we wish you clear skies and safe travels. And please send us an email to let us know your impressions. For the those of us who aren’t going, here’s what it will look like, taken from a video of the 2006 total eclipse as it was seen in Turkey.
Planets This Month
Mercury. Mercury will disappear behind the sun early this month, then swing around the other side to reappear in the evening sky. You might spot it just above the western horizon close to a thin crescent moon on July 23-24.
Venus and Mars. Venus is the belle of the ball this month in the eastern morning sky. It’s unmistakably bright, hanging in Taurus by mid month. You’ll find Mars a little higher, above the V-shaped Hyades star cluster and just below the Pleiades. Mars and Aldebaran both have a similar color; Mars is the one that twinkles the least.
Venus and Mars near the Hyades and Pleiades before dawn on July 17-19.
Jupiter and Neptune. Jupiter and Neptune sit close together in Capricorn. Although low in the southeast for northern observers, Jupiter always puts on a good show. As mentioned above, the two planets are within 0.5 degrees of each other on July 11.
Uranus. Also in the southeast sky, Uranus moves slowly through the circlet of Pisces this month.
What to See
The constellation Sagittarius, visible in near the southern horizon from the northern hemisphere and nearly overhead in the southern hemisphere, holds so many sights it’s hard to know which to choose. Perhaps we’ll cover a few later this month. But you can’t go wrong just sweeping this part of the sky with binoculars to get a view of the grand spectacle of a major spiral arm of our galaxy.
Finally, no time to write a haiku this month (at least not a good one). So here’s one from a master:
Summer moon–
Clapping hands,
I herald dawn
-Basho
