Saturday: Jupiter
is two fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southwest horizon ay 10
p.m. With binoculars or a small backyard telescope, you can see up to four if
its moons. With a large backyard telescope you can see its Great Red Spot, a
storm larger than the Earth. With the URL to this Sky and Telescope
article: https://goo.gl/y8B7qx,
you can really see Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. The NASA Juno probe recently sent
back the first close-up images of the Spot. Over the past few decades, it has
been getting smaller and less red. Soon it will be called the “So-so rust-colored
spot”. Jupiter and the future So-so rust-colored spot are two fists above the
southwest horizon at 10 p.m.
Sunday: The
Southern Delta Aquarid meteor shower peaks for the next few weeks into
mid-August. Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which the
meteors appear to originate. These meteors appear to come from a point in
Aquarius near the star Delta Aquarii, also known as Skat. This point is about
one and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southeast
horizon at 1 am tonight. You can follow this point throughout the night, as it
will remain a fist above Fomalhaut, the brightest star in that section of the
sky. The best time to view the shower is just before morning twilight. For more
information about this year’s shower, go to http://goo.gl/Uoxvda. As your Mother might
say, dress warm and sit in a comfortable chair for maximum enjoyment. Meteors
are tiny rocks that hit the Earth and burn up in the atmosphere.
Monday: Say "Cheese". 167 years ago
today, Vega, in the constellation Lyra the lyre, became the first star ever
photographed. The photograph was taken at the Harvard Observatory using the
daguerreotype process. Vega is the third brightest nighttime star we can see in
Ellensburg, behind Sirius and Arcturus. Vega is nearly straight overhead at
11:00 tonight.
Tuesday: Last
week marked the two-year anniversary of NASA’s New Horizons probe passing by
Pluto. If the band Nirvana was still together, they’d probably rewrite one of
their hit songs to be called Heart-Shaped Spot, after one of Pluto’s most
distinctive features. “She eyes me like a dwarf planet when I am weak. I’ve
been imaging your heart-shaped spot for weeks.” Astronomers think this
heart-shaped spot is a large plain of nitrogen ice that consists of convective
cells 10-30 miles across. Solid nitrogen is warmed in the interior of Pluto,
becomes buoyant, and bubbles up to the surface like a lava lamp. You will find
great pictures and information about what New Horizons found this past year at http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/.
Hey, wait, I’ve got a new complaint. People should be more interested in
astronomy.
Wednesday: Saturn is two fists above due south at 10:30 p.m.
Thursday: Take a two and a half hour walk. Too long, you say? Forty-eight
years ago today, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took the first ever walk by
humans on another world. They spend two and a half hours setting up scientific
instruments and collecting rocks for study back on Earth. Michael Collins
orbited the Moon in the spacecraft the astronauts would use to return to Earth.
Friday: One
month from today, the Moon will pass between the Earth and Sun as seen from a
large swath across the United States. This total solar eclipse will be the
first one visible in the lower 48 states since 1979. If you want to travel to
the path of totality, plan ahead. Scientists estimate that this might be the
most viewed total solar eclipse in history. Leave early. Make sure you have a
full tank of gas. Bring extra food and water. Don’t forget safe solar eclipse
glasses and the proper filters for your binoculars or telescope. For more
information about the eclipse, go to the Great
American Eclipse website at https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/.
The positional
information in this column about stars and planets is typically accurate for
the entire week. For up to date information about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.
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