Look into the southern sky at 10pm on a clear night and the star clouds of the Milky Way may be seen meandering up from the horizon from the constellation of Sagittarius in which lies the centre of our galaxy. This is an ideal time to view many star clusters & nebulae with a pair of 10 x 50 binoculars. The constellation of Capricornus lies low in the SW, and Ophiuchus lies a little higher in the SE. Then we come to the ‘Summer Triangle’ marked by the bright stars Altair in Aquila (The eagle), Deneb in Cygnus (The swan) and Vega in Lira (The Lyre).
In the head of Cygnus can be found Albireo which is a fine double-star visible in small telescopes with a contrast of orange & blue. To the west of Vega is the lovely double/double star epsilon-Lyrae. M57 lies midway between the stars Beta & Gamma Lyrae, this is a ‘planetary-nebula’ visible in medium sized telescopes as a small misty patch of light.
In the northern sky Ursa Major (The great bear) lies in the NW, and the double-star Alcor/Mizar may be found second star along the the bear’s tail. It is visible to the naked-eye while binoculars will show it well.
The constellation of Perseus lies in the NE where on the night of 11 August the meteor shower known as ‘The Perseids’ may be seen. The Moon is a thin crescent that rises about three hours before the Sun, so it will provide little interference. At the shower’s peak you might see a few dozen meteors per hour.
Above Perseus may be seen the district ‘W’ pattern of stars of Cassiopeia (The queen), sometimes known as ‘the lady in the chair’. The Milky Way passes through this constellation so lots of star clusters are visible in binoculars.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ephemeris data for the planet Venus
RA Dec Const’ Rise Trans Set Mag Illumination
5h 36.871m 19° 11.161' Taurus 02:06 10:00 17:55 -4.39 42%
5h 39.922m 19° 15.428' Taurus 02:05 10:00 17:55 -4.38 42%
5h 40.069m 19° 15.642' Taurus 02:05 10:00 17:55 -4.38 42%
5h 40.216m 19° 15.857' Taurus 02:05 10:00 17:55 -4.38 42%
5h 40.362m 19° 16.070' Taurus 02:05 10:00 17:55 -4.38 42%
Venus is visible as a brilliant star-like body in the Eastern sky around sunrise, and will be at its greatest western elongation on the morning of August 15th making it an ideal opportunity for photography.
The illustration on the left shows how the planet will look through a good telescope.
The giant planet Jupiter can be seen to the upper right of Venus in the dawn sky, and lies close to the Moon on the 11th August. It looks like a bright yellow star.
This is the planet Jupiter as seen through a 14 inch reflector telescope on July 8th 2012. The famous Great Red Spot can just be seen on the eastern (Right) limb of the plant, while the cloud belts are easily visible. It will be better placed for observation in the autumn sky.
The planet Saturn is not visible from the northern hemisphere at the moment, however, this photograph of the planet was taken through a 12 inch telescope in Australia on July 12th by a Mr Ray Johnston. The planet’s rings are well seen.
Sky at Night Newsletter: 125 Sir Patrick Moore and Pete Lawrence's astronomical guide for July, August and September: Click here
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SKY DIARY
01st Full moon
03rd Neptune 5.1 deg S of the Moon
06th Uranus 4.3 deg S of the Moon
08th Meteor shower N Delta Aquarids
09th Last quarter Moon
10th Pleiades 4.8 deg N of the Moon
11th Hyades 4.3 deg S of the Moon
11th Aldebaran 3.9 deg S of the Moon
11th Jupiter 1.0 deg N of the Moon (Not visible from the UK)
12th Meteor shower the Perseids
13th Venus 0.3 deg N of the Moon
15th Venus greatest elong W (45.8 deg)
16th Mercury greatest elong W (18.7 deg)
16th Beehive/Praesepe 7.3 deg N of the Moon
17th New Moon
17th Regulus 6.5 deg N of the Moon
21st Spica 1.9 deg N of the Moon
22nd Saturn 6.1 deg N of the Moon
22nd Mars 2.8 deg N of the Moon
24th Neptune at opposition
24th First quarter Moon
24th Antares 4.8 deg S of the Moon
27th Meteor shower Pi Eridanids
30th Meteor shower Gamma Doradids
31st Full Moon
No comments:
Post a Comment