Tuesday, August 08, 2017
The Sky This Week - Thursday August 10 to Thursday August 17
The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday, August 15. Mercury is at its highest above the horizon on the 12th. Jupiter and the
bright star Spica are nearby in the evening sky.
Saturn is visible all evening in the
heart of the Milky Way. Venus
dominates the morning sky forming a triangle with the bright stars Betelgeuse and Procyon.
The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday, August 15.
Evening sky on Saturday August 12 looking west as seen from Adelaide at
18:38 ACST (60 minutes after sunset). Mercury is high above the western horizon.
Mercury climbs higher in the evening twilight sky. It is highest above the horizon on the 12th and is now readily visible above the western horizon half an hour after sunset, and is obvious 90 minutes after sunset. After this Mercury heads towards the horizon again.
Evening sky on Saturday August 12 looking north-west as seen from Adelaide
at
19:08 ACST (90 minutes after sunset). Jupiter is above the
horizon between the bright star Spica and the relatively bright star
Porrima. The
inset shows the telescopic view of Jupiter at this time with Europa crossing Jupiter disk.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset). (click to embiggen).
Jupiter is rising before sunset and is above the northern-western horizon in the early evening at full dark. It is between the bright star Spica, the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo, and the relatively bright star Porrima. Jupiter is now closer to Spica.
Opposition, when Jupiter is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, was on April the 8th. Jupiter is rising before the sun sets and is visible until just before midnight. Jupiter is a good telescopic target from astronomical twilight on, and the dance of its Moons is visible even in binoculars. The following Jupiter events are in AEST.
Thu 10 Aug 18:20 Io : Shadow Transit Begins ST
Thu 10 Aug 19:26 Io : Transit Ends S
Thu 10 Aug 20:20 GRS: Crosses Central Meridian
Thu 10 Aug 20:31 Io : Shadow Transit Ends
Thu 10 Aug 22:27 Eur: Disappears into Occultation
Fri 11 Aug 17:51 Io : Reappears from Eclipse
Sat 12 Aug 19:45 Eur: Shadow Transit Begins ST
Sat 12 Aug 19:59 Eur: Transit Ends S
Sat 12 Aug 21:59 GRS: Crosses Central Meridian
Sat 12 Aug 22:06 Eur: Shadow Transit Ends
Sun 13 Aug 17:50 GRS: Crosses Central Meridian
Tue 15 Aug 19:30 GRS: Crosses Central Meridian
Wed 16 Aug 22:03 Io : Disappears into Occultation
Thu 17 Aug 19:12 Io : Transit Begins T
Thu 17 Aug 20:15 Io : Shadow Transit Begins ST
Thu 17 Aug 21:09 GRS: Crosses Central Meridian
Thu 17 Aug 21:25 Io : Transit Ends S
Evening sky on Saturday August 12 looking north as seen from Adelaide at
20:14 ACST, when Saturn is at its highest. Saturn is almost overhead
high
above the northern horizon.
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 was at opposition on the 15th, when it was biggest and brightest in the sky as seen from earth. Saturn is visible all night long. Saturn is a good telescopic target from 9 pm on. It is poised above the dark rifts in the Milky Way and is in a good area for binocular hunting. It continues to climb into the evening skies as the week progresses. Saturn's rings are visible even in small telescopes and are always good to view.
The constellation of Scorpio is a good guide to locating Saturn. The distinctive curl of Scorpio is easy to see above the north-eastern to northern horizon, locate the bright red star, Antares, and the look below that towards the horizon, the next bright object is Saturn.
Morning sky on Tuesday August 16 looking east as seen from Adelaide at
6:04 ACST (60 minutes before sunrise). Venus is dazzling below the
bright star Betelgeuse and forms a triangle with Procyon and Betelgeuse. The waning Moon is close to the Hyades. The inset shows the
telescopic view of Venus at this time.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (that is 60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).
Venus is lowering in the morning sky and is visible in telescopes as a "Gibbous Moon". At the start of the week Venus forms a triangle with Procyon and Betelgeuse.
Mars is lost in the twilight.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/
The Last Quarter Moon is Tuesday, August 15.
Mercury climbs higher in the evening twilight sky. It is highest above the horizon on the 12th and is now readily visible above the western horizon half an hour after sunset, and is obvious 90 minutes after sunset. After this Mercury heads towards the horizon again.
Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset). (click to embiggen).
Jupiter is rising before sunset and is above the northern-western horizon in the early evening at full dark. It is between the bright star Spica, the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo, and the relatively bright star Porrima. Jupiter is now closer to Spica.
Opposition, when Jupiter is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, was on April the 8th. Jupiter is rising before the sun sets and is visible until just before midnight. Jupiter is a good telescopic target from astronomical twilight on, and the dance of its Moons is visible even in binoculars. The following Jupiter events are in AEST.
Thu 10 Aug 18:20 Io : Shadow Transit Begins ST
Thu 10 Aug 19:26 Io : Transit Ends S
Thu 10 Aug 20:20 GRS: Crosses Central Meridian
Thu 10 Aug 20:31 Io : Shadow Transit Ends
Thu 10 Aug 22:27 Eur: Disappears into Occultation
Fri 11 Aug 17:51 Io : Reappears from Eclipse
Sat 12 Aug 19:45 Eur: Shadow Transit Begins ST
Sat 12 Aug 19:59 Eur: Transit Ends S
Sat 12 Aug 21:59 GRS: Crosses Central Meridian
Sat 12 Aug 22:06 Eur: Shadow Transit Ends
Sun 13 Aug 17:50 GRS: Crosses Central Meridian
Tue 15 Aug 19:30 GRS: Crosses Central Meridian
Wed 16 Aug 22:03 Io : Disappears into Occultation
Thu 17 Aug 19:12 Io : Transit Begins T
Thu 17 Aug 20:15 Io : Shadow Transit Begins ST
Thu 17 Aug 21:09 GRS: Crosses Central Meridian
Thu 17 Aug 21:25 Io : Transit Ends S
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 was at opposition on the 15th, when it was biggest and brightest in the sky as seen from earth. Saturn is visible all night long. Saturn is a good telescopic target from 9 pm on. It is poised above the dark rifts in the Milky Way and is in a good area for binocular hunting. It continues to climb into the evening skies as the week progresses. Saturn's rings are visible even in small telescopes and are always good to view.
The constellation of Scorpio is a good guide to locating Saturn. The distinctive curl of Scorpio is easy to see above the north-eastern to northern horizon, locate the bright red star, Antares, and the look below that towards the horizon, the next bright object is Saturn.
Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (that is 60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).
Venus is lowering in the morning sky and is visible in telescopes as a "Gibbous Moon". At the start of the week Venus forms a triangle with Procyon and Betelgeuse.
Mars is lost in the twilight.
Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.
Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.
Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/
Labels: weekly sky
# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 11:29 pm 
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