Podcaster: Rob Webb

Title: Observing With Webb in July 2016

Organization: Physics teacher at Pequea Valley High School

Link: http://mrwebb.podbean.com ;
https://sites.google.com/site/mrwebbonline/ ;
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrWebbPV
https://sites.google.com/site/pvplanetarium/home
follow me : @mrwebbpv

To listen to this email as a podcast, go to my Podbean page. To see a video of this information, go to my YouTube Channel

Description: Chances to see all 5 visible planets with warm nights are making July fantastic this year

Bio: Rob Webb is a physics, astronomy, and sustainability teacher at Pequea Valley High School in Pennsylvania. His passions include teaching, astronomy, astrophotography, planetariums, running, reading, and golf. A proud graduate of Dickinson College in 2005, he also obtained a Master’s Degree in Science Education from Penn State University after conducting research in regards to the current state of planetariums in Pennsylvania. Feel free to contact him at rob_webb@pequeavalley.org

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Transcript:

Chances to see all 5 visible planets with warm nights are making July fantastic this year

PLANETS…well, the ones visible with your naked eye

Planets you can see around Sunset – Jupiter (W), Mars & Saturn (S→SW), Venus (NW), Mercury (W – end of the month)

Planets you can see throughout the night – Mars & Saturn (S→SW)

Planets you can see in the Morning – None

Mercury – Difficult to see this month, but after July 22^nd or so, look west after sunset and it will be only a fist-width above the horizon, and only a few degrees up and to the left of much brighter Venus.

Venus – comes around the back of the Sun this month, so look W after the first week of July, and you might catch bright Venus just before it sets, half an hour after the Sun does.

Mars & Saturn– Look south after sunset and bring a sky map of Scorpius and Libra.  Mars has moved into Libra, while Saturn remains in Scorpius.  Mars will be the bright-ish reddish light above and to the right of Scorpius, inside Libra. Saturn will be less bright than Mars, and and above Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius.  They will move westward and by 1am, Mars will have set in the southwest, with Saturn a little over an hour behind.

Jupiter – Look west after sunset and Jupiter will be the very bright light left of Leo the Lion. It will be setting in the W around 11pm.  Get your observing of Jupiter in now. By August, it will be setting during dusk, and in September it will be behind the Sun.

EVENTS…

New Moon – 4^th (darkest skies)

8^th – Close Encounter – Moon & Jupiter – Jupiter and a nice crescent Moon are only about 4˚ apart in the west after sunset and set in the West around 11pm.

First Quarter Moon – 11^th (Visible until midnight)

13^th – 16^th – Close Encounter – Moon, Mars, Saturn – Look to the south after sunset, and you’ll see The Moon, Mars, and Saturn making a great triangle in the sky that changes shape each night. This is visible until 1:30am, moving to the west.  Mars is consistently about 20˚ to the right of Saturn, but the Moon moves over the course of the encounter. On the 13^th, the Moon is to the right of both planets, then moves in between, but above, Mars and Saturn on the 14^th for a great triangle.  On the 15^th, the Moon moves to be only 3˚ above Saturn, and then exits on the 16^th, making the three celestial objects appear the line up.

Full Moon – 19^th (Visible all night)

Last Quarter Moon – 26th (Visible from midnight into the morning)

Lunar Occultation of Aldebaran – 29th (Visible from midnight into the morning) – The Moon, as it moves slowly across the constellations, will cover up the brightest star in its path, Aldebaran. Times vary by location, but Washington D.C. will see the star disappear behind the the Moon at 6:05am, and reappear on the lit side around 6:53am.  You’ll need a telescope, since this is essentially during the day, and stars are particularly hard to see in the daytime (though not impossible).

CONSTELLATIONS… (see sky map link at the bottom for a Star Map for this month – or ask Mr. Webb)    Look straight up and you’ll see…

Just after Sunset (around 8:30pm) – Bootes, Corona Borealis, and Hercules.  Bootes is known as the shepherd, kite, or ice cream cone.  You can follow the arc of the Big Dipper’s handle to get to its brightest star Arcturus.   Hercules has an Extra Challenge! Look for M13, the Hercules Cluster in between two of Hercules’ “keystone” stars.  It known as the best globular cluster in the northern skies.  It will be a fuzzy spot in binoculars and will be even cooler through a telescope

Midnight – Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila (a little to the south) – These are the Summer constellations, and since they are visible right above us around midnight (and to the west after sunrise), it’s now summer!  More details below in the “General Constellation Finding Tips”  Extra Challenge! Look for M57, the Ring Nebula in between two of Lyra’s stars.  It is 2,300 light years away, which means we’re seeing what it looked like 2,300 years ago.  The shell that you see is the remnants of the central star that blew up some 20,000 years ago.  It has a donut-like appearance through a telescope.  It’ll be easy to find, but tough to see in binoculars, so get the scope out.

Early Morning – Pegasus, Andromeda

GENERAL CONSTELLATION FINDING TIPS: 

Summer Constellations: Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila, Delphinus

Look to the east after sunset or straight up around midnight and you’ll be able to see Lyra (the Harp), Cygnus (the Swan), Aquila (the Eagle), (and Delphinus the Dolphin.)  These three constellations have the three brightest stars of the summer constellations (Vega, Deneb, Altair – respectively.)  Those bright stars create the summer triangle.  Off to the east of this is the small but beautiful constellation of Delphinus.

Spring Constellations:  Bootes, Virgo, Leo, Corona Borealis, Hercules.

First find the Big Dipper in the North (a North Circumpolar Asterism that never sets) and look at the handle.  Starting at the star closest to the “cup” part, follow the rest of the stars in the handle and follow the arc to Arcturus.  Arcturus is the brightest star in Bootes the Shepherd.  Some say he looks more like a kite, others say more like an ice cream cone.

Then, following the same “arc”, speed on to Spica.  Spica is the brightest star in Virgo.  Virgo’s a dimmer constellation, so you’ll be rewarded when you find her.

To the left of Bootes is Corona Borealis.  This is a small collection of stars that make a crown, cup, or U shape in the sky.

To the left of Corona Borealis is the great constellation of Hercules.  Hercules is the Hero of the sky and has a central “keystone” asterism, in which lies M13, the Hercules Cluster.

Lastly, Leo is a constellation consisting of a backward question mark (or sickle) and a right triangle to the left.  Use the two Big Dipper “cup” stars that are in the middle of the Big Dipper and follow the line they make to the bright star Regulus, the brightest star in Leo.

Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out.

End of podcast:

365 Days of Astronomy
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