Friday, July 19
Taurus the Bull could also be one of many premier winter constellations, however do you know there’s additionally a bull in the summertime nighttime sky? Generally known as Taurus Poniatovii or Poniatowski’s Bull, this small constellation was created by Marcin Poczobut, director of Vilnius Observatory in Lithuania, in 1777. It’s one in every of numerous constellations now not formally acknowledged following the approval of the 88 modern-day constellations by the Worldwide Astronomical Union in 1928.
Though now not “official,” Poniatowski’s Bull nonetheless stays seen within the sky for individuals who know the best way to discover it. After darkness falls following sundown, look south towards the big constellation Ophiuchus. Poniatowski’s Bull lies simply east of Third-magnitude Cebalrai, Ophiuchus’ beta star. The constellation sports activities a V-shaped face very similar to winter’s Taurus, going through upward presently with its jap eye marked by Fifth-magnitude 73 Ophiuchi and the watern eye by 4th-magnitude 66 Oph. The bull’s nostril falls on 4th-magnitude 68 Oph. The V form of its face extends farther upward, ending in two horns: 4-magnitude 72 Oph to the east and Sixth-magnitude magnitude HD 163641 to the west.
Dawn: 5:48 A.M.
Sundown: 8:25 P.M.
Moonrise: 7:37 P.M.
Moonset: 3:21 A.M.
Moon Part: Waxing gibbous (96%)
*Instances for dawn, sundown, moonrise, and moonset are given in native time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. native time from the identical location.
Saturday, July 20
Tonight could be the evening you notice dwarf planet 1 Ceres’ movement over the course of a single night.
With a telescope, look south to seek out the Teapot of Sagittarius after sundown. Ceres is sliding by way of the Teapot’s physique, close to its base. Tonight Ceres is about 2.7° west of magnitude 2.6 Zeta (ζ) Sagittarii, which varieties the decrease be part of of deal with and teapot. Ceres can also be simply 1° northwest of magnitude 7.6 M54, a compact globular cluster some 87,400 light-years away that belongs to not the Milky Way, however to one of many many dwarf galaxies orbiting it.
A little bit farther afield is one other globular of comparable brightness: magnitude 7.9 M70, about 3° southwest of M54 and a pair of.5° southwest of Ceres’ present place.
To note Ceres’ motion from east to west, although, you’ll have to look nearer, to the place Ceres is transferring away from a faint trapezoid of magnitude 8 to 10 stars. Ceres is closest to a magnitude 9.4 star that isn’t a part of the trapezoid, however sits simply north of its southwesternmost level. It’s going to take a number of hours to identify the dwarf planet’s slight motion, however you would possibly discover a tiny east-west shift.
Dawn: 5:49 A.M.
Sundown: 8:24 P.M.
Moonrise: 8:27 P.M.
Moonset: 4:25 A.M.
Moon Part: Waxing gibbous (99%)
Sunday, July 21
Ninth-magnitude asteroid 40 Harmonia is at opposition at 4 A.M. EDT at the moment, rendering it seen all evening from roughly nightfall by way of daybreak close to the border of the constellations Sagittarius and Capricornus. Telescopic observers ought to be capable to spot it just below 2° south of globular cluster M75, which glows at magnitude 8.5 from a distance of some 67,500 light-years from Earth.
Nonetheless, the Full Moon — which happens at 6:17 A.M. EDT this morning — can also be seen from sundown to dawn, not removed from Harmonia’s location in Capricornus. The July Full Moon is commonly referred to as the Buck Moon, as that is the time of 12 months when male deer are rising their antlers. Our satellite’s brilliant gentle will make observing fainter Harmonia and M75 troublesome, so you might do finest to come back again in just a few nights, as soon as the Moon has begun to wane and transfer on.
As an alternative, attempt your luck recognizing a number of the well-known brilliant stars on the opposite facet of the sky — flip west after sundown to see 1st-magnitude Spica in Virgo slowly setting throughout the Maiden. To Spica’s higher proper is Arcturus, the magnitude –0.1 alpha star of Boötes the Herdsman. And to Arcturus’ proper, it is best to be capable to make out the intense stars that define the Large Dipper: from deal with to bowl, these are Alkaid, Mizar (and Alcor), Alioth, Megrez, Phecda, Merak, and Dubhe. Merak and Dubhe are additionally referred to as the Pointer Stars, as they level alongside a line that ends at 2nd-magnitude Polaris, the North Star.
Dawn: 5:49 A.M.
Sundown: 8:23 P.M.
Moonrise: 9:09 P.M.
Moonset: 5:39 A.M.
Moon Part: Full
Monday, July 22
Mercury reaches its biggest jap elongation from the Solar at 3 A.M. EDT, standing 27° east of our star at the moment. Though it’s not seen then, you possibly can attempt to catch the solar system’s smallest planet this night after sundown, although you’ll should be fast — it’s simply 5° excessive within the west 40 minutes after sundown and shines a dim magnitude 0.5. When you’ve got binoculars, see if you’ll find magnitude 1.4 Regulus simply above and barely to the left of the planet, about 3° away.
As an alternative, early risers this morning may have an opportunity to take a look at a set of fascinating occasions involving Jupiter’s Galilean moons Io and Ganymede.
These within the jap half of the U.S. will see a small shadow fall over Jupiter’s giant disk beginning round 4:31 A.M. EDT (notice that Jupiter has solely not too long ago risen for these within the Midwest and stands about 10° excessive within the east, close to Taurus’ brilliant pink eye Aldebaran).
On the similar time, the planet’s largest moon, Ganymede, is closing in on Jupiter’s northwestern limb. Ganymede disappears behind it round 4:38 A.M. EDT, although it might take a number of minutes for the massive moon to totally vanish from view.
Maintain watching to see Io closing in from the east, chasing its shadow. Io lastly begins its personal transit round 5:31 A.M. EDT. And Ganymede, which has been touring behind Jupiter this entire time, reappears from behind the northeastern limb round 4:36 A.M. MDT (notice the time change), in brilliant twilight for the Midwest and after dawn farther east.
Observers on the U.S. East Coast might snag a bonus: Try Jupiter at 3 A.M. EDT, and also you’ll notice that Europa stands simply west of Ganymede (additionally to Jupiter’s west). Maintain watching, and a few 5 to 6 minutes later you’ll discover Europa wink out of view. That’s as a result of the small moon has handed into Jupiter’s lengthy, darkish shadow from our viewpoint, dimming it out of sight. Ganymede’s orbit, nevertheless, avoids the shadow, preserving the moon seen till it passes behind the planet’s limb an hour and a half later.
Dawn: 5:50 A.M.
Sundown: 8:22 P.M.
Moonrise: 9:44 P.M.
Moonset: 6:56 A.M.
Moon Part: Waning gibbous (98%)
Tuesday, July 23
Pluto reaches opposition in Capricornus the Sea Goat at 2 A.M. EDT. Nonetheless, the distant dwarf planet is essentially out of attain for the common newbie — solely observers with scopes 11 inches or bigger will be capable to spot it. And even then, it is going to be difficult.
When you’ve got the proper gear and need to give it a go, you’ll find the magnitude 14.4 world in southwestern Capricornus, close to Harmonia’s location in far jap Sagittarius (see the entry just a few days in the past, when Harmonia reached opposition). The brightest close by signpost to Pluto could be M75; the globular cluster lies simply over 2° northwest of Pluto’s place. Most go-to scopes ought to be capable to take your view proper to Pluto, which lies about 20′ from the Tenth-magnitude area star HD 192155.
Notice, nevertheless, that the intense gibbous Moon remains to be close by, albeit now in central Aquarius. So even when you have entry to a bigger instrument, you would possibly do higher to attend just a few extra nights, when the Moon will each have moved farther away and is rising later within the evening, supplying you with extra darkness to attempt to get hold of the faint, distant world.
In order for you a better goal for tonight, gaze overhead round native midnight to seek out the cross-shaped constellation Cygnus. On the prime of the cross — additionally the tail of the swan that Cygnus is supposed to symbolize — is Deneb. On the base, the swan’s head, is Albireo. This Third-magnitude star is a beautiful double that’s simple to separate in any scope, comprising two stars some 34″ aside. One is a shocking sapphire blue, whereas the opposite is a deep orange. Their contrasting colours come up from their totally different temperatures — the bluer star is way hotter than its extra orangey counterpart.
Dawn: 5:51 A.M.
Sundown: 8:21 P.M.
Moonrise: 10:12 P.M.
Moonset: 8:14 A.M.
Moon Part: Waning gibbous (93%)
Wednesday, July 24
The Moon reaches perigee, the closest level to Earth in its orbit, at 1:41 A.M. EDT. At the moment, our satellite will sit 226,749 miles (364,917 kilometers) away.
The Moon additionally passes 0.4° north of Saturn at 5 P.M. EDT; observers in southeast Asia will see our satellite fully cowl the planet in an occultation — you possibly can take a look at whether or not the occasion is seen out of your location on the Worldwide Occultation Timing Affiliation’s webpage for the occasion here.
Different observers can catch the beautiful pairing within the sky in a single day. Saturn rises round 10:30 P.M. native daylight time, with the Moon following roughly 10 minutes later in jap Aquarius. Saturn, glowing at magnitude 0.8, is now some 5° west of the 19-day-old Moon. Though each should not seen in the identical telescopic area of view, binoculars ought to seize them collectively, and each are after all simple naked-eye objects.
You should use a telescope to zoom in on Saturn, whose disk at the moment spans 18″ and rings stretch about 41″ alongside the lengthy axis. You could even spot its brightest moon, Eighth-magnitude Titan, about 1′ east of the planet tonight. The Tenth-magnitude moons Tethys and Rhea lie nearer to the rings, one on both facet (Tethys to the east, Rhea to the west), however they could be troublesome to identify with the close by Moon throwing its gentle by way of the sky.
Even more durable to trace — however value it for these with giant scopes and video-capture capabilities — is a triple transit as Mimas, Enceladus, and Rhea traverse the disk. Round midnight EDT, all three are seen on the disk south of the rings, with Rhea within the lead farthest west, adopted by Enceladus after which Mimas farthest east. Falling on the cloud tops are the shadows of Enceladus and Mimas as effectively, main their respective moons; Rhea’s shadow has already disappeared from the disk, although when you’re recording about 10 to twenty minutes prior, you might seize it approaching the southwestern limb.
Dawn: 5:52 A.M.
Sundown: 8:21 P.M.
Moonrise: 10:38 P.M.
Moonset: 9:31 A.M.
Moon Part: Waning gibbous (86%)
Thursday, July 25
The Moon now passes 0.6° north of Neptune at 11 A.M. EDT. The planet rises round 11 P.M. native daylight time, beneath the Circlet asterism in Pisces. The Moon now lies in far northwestern Cetus, some 8.5° east of the ice giant.
Luna is now some 72 p.c lit, with the jap Sea of Serenity falling into shadow because the two-week-long lunar evening begins to creep throughout the nearside. Nonetheless seen west of the day-night dividing line, the terminator, within the lunar south is the intense, rayed crater Tycho, which spans some 53 miles (84 km) in diameter. Simply north of the lunar equator, you’ll discover one other giant, rayed crater: Copernicus, which spans roughly 58 miles (93 km).
Let’s flip again to Neptune, which requires optical assist to identify, as its distance renders it a faint magnitude 7.7. Binoculars or any scope ought to present it as a small, “flat,” bluish star. Neptune is now 2.7 billion miles (4.39 billion km) from Earth, so despite the fact that it’s a giant ice giant, it seems simply 2″ throughout in our sky. It’s at the moment 5.5° southeast of magnitude 4.5 Lambda (λ) Piscium, the southeasternmost star within the Circlet.
Dawn: 5:53 A.M.
Sundown: 8:20 P.M.
Moonrise: 11:02 P.M.
Moonset: 10:45 A.M.
Moon Part: Waning gibbous (77%)
Friday, July 26
Some 30° excessive within the east an hour earlier than dawn, the constellation Taurus hosts not one, not two, however three planets inside its borders. The simplest to identify is Jupiter, shining at magnitude –2.1 — brighter than any of the constellation’s stars. The solar system’s largest planet lies 5.8° to the higher proper (north) of Taurus’ alpha star, Aldebaran, a brilliant pink big that shines at magnitude 0.9.
About 8° above (northwest of) Aldebaran, magnitude 0.9 Mars matches the star for brightness — and probably even colour, because the Purple Planet’s rusty floor displays daylight again to us. Though a lot nearer to Earth than Jupiter, Mars is smaller than our planet (and a lot smaller than Jupiter); examine its 6″ width to Jupiter’s whopping 35″ by way of a telescope!
Lastly, swing your gaze up towards the Pleiades, cataloged by Charles Messier as entry No. 45 in his listing of non-comets. About 5.7° south-southwest of this glowing star cluster lies Uranus, the second-farthest planet from the Solar. Glowing a faint magnitude 5.8, you’ll want binoculars or a telescope to view its 4″-wide, grayish disk.
Uranus and Mars sat shut in a conjunction practically two weeks in the past, after they have been a mere 0.6° aside on the fifteenth. Now, the planets are simply over 7° aside, as close by Mars has pulled quickly away, leaving Uranus behind because it strikes solely slowly by way of our sky, because of its better. distance.
Dawn: 5:54 A.M.
Sundown: 8:19 P.M.
Moonrise: 11:27 P.M.
Moonset: 11:59 A.M.
Moon Part: Waning gibbous (66%)
Sky This Week is dropped at you partly by Celestron.
