Podcaster: Rob Webb
Title: Last Minute Astronomer July 2024
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 on Twitter ; @lastminuteastronomer on Facebook and Instagram
Don’t forget this podcast is found on my Podbean page, Stitcher, and iTunes. There’s also a video version on my YouTube Channel and I can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @mrwebbpv. The Pequea Valley Planetarium and its events and updates are on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as @pvplanetarium.
Use a sky map from www.skymaps.com to help you out.
Description: July’s fireworks include Saturn coming back around closer to being an evening planet, Mercury and Venus dancing low in the evenings, and some magic between the Moon and Spica. As usual, we’ll start by talking about where the naked eye planets are this month, move on to the lunar phases, and finish up with a calendar of events, so you can plan ahead better than me.
Today’s sponsor: Big thanks to our Patreon supporters this month: Rob Leeson, David Bowes, Brett Duane, Benett Bolek, Mary Ann, Frank Frankovic, Michael Freedman, Kim Hay, Steven Emert, Frank Tippin, Rani Bush, Jako Danar, Joseph J. Biernat, Nik Whitehead, Michael W, Cherry Wood, Steve Nerlich, Steven Kluth, James K Wood, Katrina Ince, Phyllis Foster, Don Swartwout, Barbara Geier, Steven Jansen, Donald Immerwahr
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Transcript:
Hi everybody, I’m Rob, your Last Minute Astronomer, bringing astronomy to normies and nerds, with little time to spare.
July’s fireworks include Saturn coming back around closer to being an evening planet, Mercury and Venus dancing low in the evenings, and some magic between the Moon and Spica.
As usual, we’ll start by talking about where the naked eye planets are this month, move on to the lunar phases, and finish up with a calendar of events, so you can plan ahead better than me.
Naked-eye PLANETS
Sunset
Mercury, Venus – Finally a little excitement in the evenings. Mercury will be around 10-15° above the W horizon all month right at sunset, challenging you to find it in the glare of the setting Sun. If you don’t find it this month, you’ll have to wait until some mornings in August. Venus, on the other hand starts its evening apparition that’ll last until Mid-March. It won’t get any higher than 10° at sunset this month, so it’ll be challenging you as well, but should be a little easier than Mercury, given its brightness. Again, look W, but about 10° to the right of Mercury. Use these next 9 months and your telescope to watch Venus go through its phases. It’s almost full right now, will then go half, crescent, and then pass between the Sun and Earth in March.
Middle of the night
Saturn – You’ll still have to stay up late this month to catch it, but we’re getting closer to the ringed planet being visible all night. In the beginning of the month, Saturn rises in the East around 12:30am, earlier every day, until it rises on the 31st just after 10pm. The later you stay up and the later in the month it is, the higher it’ll get up to 45°, and the further South and West it’ll go, but always gorgeous through the scope with its rings just about edge-on.
Morning
Jupiter, Mars, Saturn – Jupiter and Mars get closer together, as Saturn moves far away from the both of them. Starting out the month, at sunrise, Jupiter is about 20° above the Eastern horizon, with Mars about 22° above and to the right of Jupiter. Saturn is just about directly South, halfway up the sky. If you want to see them rise, Mars accomplishes this after 2:30am, and Jupiter after 3:30am in ENE. By the end of July, Jupiter is just 6° from Mars, which is up and to the right, halfway up the ESE horizon at sunrise. Saturn will be almost opposite its compatriots, just 35° above the SW horizon. Jupiter and Mars both rise by about 2am.
EVENTS
Morning Crescents (look East in the AM)
New Moon – 5th (darkest skies)
Evening Crescents (look West after Sunset)
First Quarter Moon – 13th (Visible until midnight)
Evening Gibbous (Mostly lit, after Sunset)
Full Moon – 21st (Visible all night)
Waning Gibbous (Mostly lit, rises later at night)
Last Quarter Moon – 27th (Visible midnight into the morning)
LUNAR CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
The Moon will be traveling across the sky as normal, passing by some planets at particular times.
1st – Waning Crescent Moon is just above Mars in the AM
3rd – Up and to the left of Jupiter in the AM
6th – Above Venus, to the left of Mercury, NNW just after sunset
7th – Above Mercury, NNW just after sunset
24th – To the right of Saturn, after 11pm, waning gibbous
25th – To the left of Saturn, after 11pm, waning gibbous
30th – Above Mars and Jupiter, ENE after 2am, waning crescent
31st – Left of Jupiter, ENE after 2am, waning crescent
13th – Lunar Occultation of Spica – Not so common to be able to see a star stop shining and then start back up again…sort of. Check https://is.gd/july2024spica for timings for your area, but the gist is that North and Central America, particularly on the Eastern side, will be able to watch Spica wink out as the dark side of the Moon crosses in front of it. As an example, if you live near Harrisburg, PA, look WSW for the Moon after 11pm. Right around 11:24pm Spica will disappear. Unfortunately, this happens only about 10° above the horizon, leaving the reappearance invisible to us. Reappearance will be visible before the Moon hits the horizon if you live approximately west of the Mississippi.
And that’s the sky for this month. If you find this advance notice of the night sky helpful, please support this work by finding Last Minute Astronomer on Patreon, and don’t forget to follow Last Minute Astronomer on Facebook and Instagram. Till next month, I’m the Last Minute Astronomer wishing you fruitful plans and clear skies.
Music was produced by Deep Sky Dude and used with permission.
End of podcast:
365 Days of Astronomy
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