Saturday, July 6 The waning crescent Moon serves as a convenient guide to Mars this morning. The planet shines at magnitude 1.5 and lies 4° north (to the upper left) of the Moon in the twilight sky. Our satellite rises about 75 minutes before the Sun. Once you locate it, use binoculars to scan for Mars. The Moon reaches apogee, the farthest point in its orbit around Earth, at 8:35 p.m. EDT. It then lies 252,581 miles (406,490 kilometers) from Earth’s center. Sunday, July 7 You should be able to glimpse Jupiter in the predawn sky this week. The giant planet lies 4° high in the east-northeast 30 minutes before sunrise this morning. It shines at magnitude –1.9, nearly 25 times brighter than its neighbor to the upper right, Mars. Both planets will grow more conspicuous in the coming weeks as they climb higher in the predawn sky. As twilight starts to fade, Saturn will become prominent in the southwestern July sky. // Efrain Morales Rivera Monday, July 8 Saturn currently shines at magnitude 0.5 in eastern Virgo, where it sits just 0.5° (the width of a Full Moon) due south of 4th-magnitude Kappa (κ) Virginis. The planet appears stationary relative to the background stars tonight and barely budges the rest of the week. Saturn stands approximately 30° high in the southwest around 10 p.m. local daylight time and doesn’t set until after midnight. Although the planet looks attractive with naked eyes, it truly dazzles when you view it through a telescope. Even a small instrument reveals the distant world’s 18"-diameter disk and the spectacular rings, which span 40" and tilt 17° to our line of sight. New Moon occurs at 3:14 a.m. EDT. At its new phase, the Moon crosses the sky with the Sun and so remains hidden in our star’s glare. Tuesday, July 9 Mercury reaches inferior conjunction, passing between the Sun and Earth, at 3 p.m. EDT. The innermost planet will return to view before dawn in about two weeks. Wednesday, July 10 The waxing crescent Moon passes near Venus in tonight’s twilight sky. The brilliant planet appears 7° north (to the upper right) of our satellite as darkness falls. You shouldn’t have any problem spotting Venus, which shines at magnitude –3.9 and appears about 10° above the horizon 30 minutes after sunset. If you turn a telescope on the planet, you’ll see a disk that spans 11" and appears nearly full. From Astronomy - The Sky this Week
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 09:34:57 +0000