Saturday: From left to right, Regulus, Venus, and Mars make a short line segment less than one fist long low in the west-northwestern sky at 9:45 p.m. Venus is the brightest of the three. Mars is just to the lower right of Venus. Regulus is to the left of Venus.
Sunday: 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.
Read 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.
Monday: The bright star Vega is is nearly straight overhead
at 11:00 p.m. While you can easily find Vega with the naked eye, there are many
binocular and small telescope targets in the vicinity. The most well known of
these is the four star system called the “double double”. Read more about it at
http://tiny.cc/mhcauz.
Tuesday: Take a two and a half hour walk today. Too long,
you say? Fifty one 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/.
Wednesday: Saturn is one and a half fists above due
southeast at 11:00 p.m.. Jupiter and its largest moon Ganymede is two and a
half fists to the lower left of Saturn. Last month, NASA’s Juno probe
passed close by Ganymede, taking the best ever images of the icy and rocky
body. For more information about Ganymede, go to http://tiny.cc/9hcauz.
Thursday: The Gemini twins, Castor and then Pollux, rise
just before the Sun. They are both less than a fist above 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.
Friday: You’ve seen all of the top 100 lists: top 100 ways
to use Duct Tape, top 100 Somali restaurants in Washington, etc. Now get
excited for this week’s full Moon by reading about and finding some of the
lunar 100 at http://goo.gl/ldGvH6 This list
describes 100 interesting landmarks on the Moon that are visible from Earth.
They are listed from easiest to see, starting with the entire moon itself at
number 1, to most difficult (Mare Marginis swirls, anyone?). Stay up all night
to binge watch the moon or just make a few observations a month. It’s your
decision. It’s our moon. Start your viewing tonight at 10:00 p.m. when the Moon
is two fists held upright and at arm’s length above the southern horizon and
one fist above the bright reddish star Antares. I suggest starting with Mare
Crisium, the circular, dark, basaltic plain in the upper right-hand portion of
the moon. Items such as Crisium were named "Mare" by early
astronomers who mistook them for seas, instead of the hardened lava beds that
they really are.
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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