Saturday: Take a
two and a half hour walk today. Too long, you say? Fifty 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. Their colleague Michael Collins
orbited the Moon in the spacecraft the astronauts would use to return to Earth.
While everyone seems to know about Armstrong and Aldrin, spend some time
learning more about Collins by reading
https://time.com/5624528/michael-collins-apollo-11/.
Sunday: You’ve seen
the images and heard the recordings of Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin. Now look
at their craters. They range in size from 2.4 to 4.6 km in diameter and are
located just north of the Apollo 11 landing site. If you want to see them
yourself, get up at about 4:00 a.m. this morning or tomorrow morning when the
Moon is highest in the southern sky. Then borrow your neighbor’s eight inch or
larger telescope. If you don’t live in that neighborhood, just look at the
pictures at https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/celebrate-apollo-11-armstrong-aldrin-collins-craters/.
Monday: Academic
interest in the Moon started long before the Apollo missions. Galileo was the
first scientist to widely publish his lunar observations. Since then, hundreds
of astronomers have studied the Moon. To celebrate Apollo 11, read about 11
lunar stars here:
Tuesday: Take a
break from thinking about the Moon by thinking about meteors. The Southern
Delta Aquarid meteor shower has a long gradual peak 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
two and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southeast
horizon at 3 am early this morning. You can follow this point throughout the
night and for the next few weeks, as it will remain a fist above Fomalhaut, the
brightest star in that section of the sky. Since the Moon is near Skat tonight,
use your time wisely by reading about the shower, at https://earthsky.org/?p=159138. 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.
Wednesday: Jupiter
is two fists above due south at 10 p.m. Even though it is the largest planet,
it would be dwarfed by Antares, a red supergiant star less than one fist to the
lower right of it. If Antares replaced our Sun, it would fill up the Solar
System nearly all the way out to Jupiter.
Thursday: Saturn is
two fists above the south-southeastern horizon at 11:00 p.m.
Friday: The Gemini
twins, Castor and then Pollux, rise just before the Sun. They are both less
than a fist below the northeastern horizon at 4:45 a.m. Pollux is the brightest
star, as measured from Earth, with a confirmed planet in orbit. It is likely
that there are brighter stars with undiscovered planets.
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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