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Wolverhampton Astronomical SocietyEstablished 1951 |
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This Months Planets July 2008Planets for July 2008 for previous months click here to select a month.
The PlanetsSee Uranus with the naked eye and watch as Saturn and Mars pay each other a visit
MERCURY isn't well placed this month Despatch reaching greatest western elongation on 1st July, when Mercury is a morning object, its placement in the sky isn't favourable. Rising in the east-northeast in the early morning dawn, Mercury never really gains much height before the Sun pops up above the horizon and the little planet is lost to the day. As the month passes, Mercury begins to move back toward the Sun, making observation even harder. VENUS is a tricky evening object Venus passed through superior conjunction (lining up with the Sun on the far side of its orbit) last month and is now slowly emerging from behind the Sun into the evening sky. Unfortunately, Venus is losing altitude against the west-northwestern horizon after sunset, as its apparent distance from the Sun increases, making this usually bright planet rather unspectacular. If you have a really flat western horizon, look out for a low Venus from the middle of the month, just after sundown. MARS is low in the west after sunset
Mars, hasn't provided very good viewing for several week. The planet only appears for a short time low in the west after sunset, and it's now so distant from Earth that it's disc appears tiny. It's not all doom and gloom though, because the planet makes a couple of close passes this month. On the 1st it is very close to the mag. +1.3 star Regulus (Alpha Leoni) in the constellation of Leo. Then, over the next few days, it makes a dash to the east for another close encounter with Saturn. Closest approach is on the evening of the 10th when both planets will be just over half a degree apart. JUPITER reaches opposition on 9th July
Throughout much of July, Jupiter rises as the evening twilight falls, and sets as dawn breaks. Despitebieng visible all night it remains low, just to the east (left) of the handle of the Teapot asterism in Sagittarius, the Archer. Its low altitude means that the planet will be blurred as seen through a telescope, because of a thick, turbulent layer of atmosphere you'll have to view it through. However, the main belts and the Gret Spot should be visible as well as the quartet of bright Galilean moons. Just fainter than mag. -3, you'll be able to pick it out with the naked eye low in the south. Opposition (when the planet is in the opposite part of the sky from the Sun), occurs on the 9th. SATURN moves into the evening twilight
Saturn is in Leo, the Lion. It lies 4.5° to the east of Mars on the 1st of the month and pays an even closer call to the Red Planet on the 10th. However, the fast apparent motion of Mars rapidly reverses the situatuin by the end of the month, when it can be found lying more than 10° to the east of Saturn. Catch Saturn during the first half of July, because after that the planet is lost low down in the glare of the Sun. URANUS is in Aquarius and continues to improve
After what seem to have been an age wallowing in the dawn twilight, Uranus finally emerges into decent dark skies towards the end of the month. It's low in the southwest as dawn approaches on the 31st, but there's plenty of opportunity to the planet through the night. it currently lies about 5° south of the Circlet asterism in Pisces, the Fishes. Away from any stars of a similar brightness, this is a good time to spot the planet with just your eyes. Uranus is just on the threshold of naked eye visibility at mag. +5.8. Looking out of the corner of your eye, if you can make out a faint dot below the Circlet, then it's certainly going to be distant Uranus. NEPTUNE is well placed this month
Neptune, the outermost of the major planets, can be found close to the two stars that mark the eastern vertice of the triangular constellation of Capricornus, the Sea Goat: Delta and Gamma Capricorni. If you can identify both stars, draw an imaginary line from Gamma to Delta and the turn 90° and head North for about the same distance again. A pair of binoculars shows three fainter stars in a vertical row: 45 (mag. +5.9), 44 (mag. +5.9) and 42 (mag. +5.2) Capricorni.
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