Tuesday, July 07, 2015
The Sky This Week - Thursday July 9 to Thursday July 16
The New Moon is Thursday July 16. Venus
is brilliant in
the twilight evening sky with bright Jupiter below it. The pair separate over the week. Saturn is in the
head of the Scorpion and is easily visible in the evening. Mercury is lost to view. The crescent Moon is close to the red star Aldebaran on the 13th.
The New Moon is Thursday July 16.
Early morning sky on Saturday July 11 looking east as seen from
Adelaide
at 6:30 ACST showing Mercury below the Hyades and the bright star Aldebaran and the Moon nearby. The pair are just above the
horizon. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the
equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).
Mercury is low in the morning skies at the beginning of this week and is rapidly lost in the twilight.
While Mercury sinks from view the waning Moon comes closer to the Hyades. The crescent Moon is close to the red star Aldebaran on the 13th.
Early evening sky on Saturday July 11 looking north-west as seen from
Adelaide
at 18:30 ACST showing Venus and Jupiter close together. The inset shows the binocular view of the two at this time.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click to embiggen).
Mars is lost in the twilight.
Venus is easy to see above the western horizon in the twilight. At nautical twilight, an hour after sunset, it is around four hand-spans above the horizon, and still visible at astronomical twilight. Venus is a distinct crescent shape in even small telescopes.
Venus and Jupiter start the week close. Venus, Jupiter and the bright star Regulus make a shallow triangle in the sky. As the week goes on the planets move away from each other, with Jupiter sinking towards the horizon, and Venus closing in on Regulus. The three will be an excellent sight for quite some time.
Jupiter is easily seen in the early evening sky near Venus in the north-western sky. It is also near the bright star Regulus in the sickle of Leo (this forms the head of the constellation of the Lion). Jupiter and Venus are close at the start of the week, and move further apart as the week goes on. (see Venus description above).
Jupiter is visible in the early evening, setting just before 8:30 pm. It is high enough for telescopic observation once twilight is over, and there is a narrow window of about 2 hours before it is too close to the horizon for telescopic viewing. Jupiter's Moons will be putting on a good display in both binoculars and small telescopes.
Evening sky on Saturday July 11 looking north as seen from
Adelaide
at 22:00 ACST. Saturn is easily visible high above the northern horizon near the
head of the Scorpion. The
inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).
Saturn is now easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive constellation of the Scorpion curled above the horizon, with bright Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed.
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best for telescope observation from around 20:00 into the early morning hours. At 22:00 it is at it's highest above the northern horizon. This is also a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Jupiter, Venus and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
The New Moon is Thursday July 16.
Mercury is low in the morning skies at the beginning of this week and is rapidly lost in the twilight.
While Mercury sinks from view the waning Moon comes closer to the Hyades. The crescent Moon is close to the red star Aldebaran on the 13th.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click to embiggen).
Mars is lost in the twilight.
Venus is easy to see above the western horizon in the twilight. At nautical twilight, an hour after sunset, it is around four hand-spans above the horizon, and still visible at astronomical twilight. Venus is a distinct crescent shape in even small telescopes.
Venus and Jupiter start the week close. Venus, Jupiter and the bright star Regulus make a shallow triangle in the sky. As the week goes on the planets move away from each other, with Jupiter sinking towards the horizon, and Venus closing in on Regulus. The three will be an excellent sight for quite some time.
Jupiter is easily seen in the early evening sky near Venus in the north-western sky. It is also near the bright star Regulus in the sickle of Leo (this forms the head of the constellation of the Lion). Jupiter and Venus are close at the start of the week, and move further apart as the week goes on. (see Venus description above).
Jupiter is visible in the early evening, setting just before 8:30 pm. It is high enough for telescopic observation once twilight is over, and there is a narrow window of about 2 hours before it is too close to the horizon for telescopic viewing. Jupiter's Moons will be putting on a good display in both binoculars and small telescopes.
Saturn is now easily visible from twilight near the head of the constellation of the Scorpion not far from the bright red star Antares. The sight of the distinctive constellation of the Scorpion curled above the horizon, with bright Saturn close to its head, is very nice indeed.
While Saturn is readily visible from the end of twilight, it is best for telescope observation from around 20:00 into the early morning hours. At 22:00 it is at it's highest above the northern horizon. This is also a good time to scan Scorpius and Sagittarius with binoculars to reveal the clusters in and around the Scorpions tail.
There are lots of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. Especially with Jupiter, Venus and Saturn in the sky. If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Labels: weekly sky
# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 11:23 pm 
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