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Saturday, July 27, 2013

The Sky This Week, 2013 July23 - August 20

"The Sky This Week" will be taking abrief hiatus for a few weeks of
summer vacation. There may be updates if I can find a reliable
Internet connection while away.
The Moon wanes in the morning sky this week, closing out the month of
July drifting through the rising autumnal constellations. Last Quarter
occurs on the 29th at 1:43pm Eastern Daylight Time. Luna begins August
as a waning crescent, passing just over two degrees north of the
bright star Aldebaran before dawn on the 1st. On the mornings of the
3rd and 4th you'll find her playing "tag" with thebright planet
Jupiter in the gathering morning twilight; on the latter morning look
for dim ruddy Mars about five degrees to the north of the very thin
crescent. New Moon occurs on August 6th at 5:51 pm EDT. Look for the
waxing crescent near bright Venus in the evening twilight of the 9th.
On the 12th she may be found just southwest of golden Saturn. First
Quarter will fall on August 14th at 6:56 am EDT, with Full Moon
occurring on the 20th at 9:45 pm EDT. August's Full Moon is often
called the Sturgeon Moon or the Green Corn Moon. It marks the
traditional beginning of harvest time for many agrarian cultures,
andwill be followed in a month by the Harvest Moon.
Hopefully many of you will enjoy a summer getaway to the countryside
or the shore, and hopefully these places are well away from city
lights. The place where I go is mercifully unlit by local street
lightsand is far enough away from large cities to afford a spectacular
view of the summer sky. If the weather is good and the mosquitoes can
be held in check I plan to spend as much time under the summer Milky
Way as possible, observing old favorite "deep-sky" objects and
tracking down ones I've never seen before. No matter if I'm using my
binoculars, my 3-inch wide-field refractor, or my 9.25-inch "big eye,"
there should be plenty to keepme busy until the wee hours. The summer
sky offers an amazing assortment of star clusters, glowing gaseous
nebulae, colorful double stars, distant galaxies, and enigmatic "dark
nebulae" for your enjoyment. In particular, the latter are in many
ways the most fascinating. You'll see these dark patches along the
length of the Milky Way from a good dark site, and examination with
binoculars or small telescopes will reveal that these clouds are vast
aggregates of dark material that absorb the light of the more distant
star clouds. The American astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard first
cataloged these objects in the early20th Century, finding well over
100in the summer sky alone. The ancient Inca, who had the advantage of
very dark skies and high altitudes, made up much of their sky-lore
around these dark voids! Try to see if you can spot some of them over
the next few weeks.
The highlight of every summer is theannual Perseid meteor shower,
which generally peaks around August 12th to 13th. This year there will
be almost ideal observing circumstances, with the Moon setting before
midnight on the optimal dates. The shower's radiant point in the sky
rises in the northeast shortly before midnight and climbs higher as
the morning hours progress. Located near the famous "Double Cluster"
in the constellation Perseus, the radiant is part of the sky from
which the meteors seem to originate as the Earth plows through the
dusty stream of meteoroids sputtered from the surface of Comet
109P/Swift-Tuttle. Under ideal conditions a single observer may see up
to 100 shooting stars per hour, but those ideal conditions don't favor
us this year. However, itwould not be unusual to see rates of 50 to 60
per hour on the nights of the 12th and 13th. The Perseids are best
enjoyed with the naked eye; they are very swift, usually quite bright,
and often leave a persistent smoke train for several seconds after
flashing through the sky. The best way to observe them is on a blanket
or a lawn chair with a view of the wide-open sky. Point your feet to
the northeast, lie back,and watch the show from about 1:00 am until
dawn.
You'll have a chance over the next few weeks to see all five of the
naked-eye planets known to the ancients. They will congregate in the
early evening and pre-dawn skies, so you can catch a few winks(except
when the Perseids are active!) between your planetary viewing times.
Venus glimmers brightly in the western sky and comes into view almost
immediately after the Sun sets.
She gradually sets a bit later each night with respect to the Sun even
though she sets earlier on successive nights by almanac tabulation. By
the end of August she sets at the end of evening twilight, but until
then she will be best seen while the sky still sports the sunset glow.
She ends July fleeing from a close encounter with the bright star
Regulus. During August she presses eastward alongthe ecliptic with
Saturn in her sights.
Saturn is still visible in the evening sky, but he's becoming
increasingly difficult to see in steady air through the telescope. He
is gradually plodding eastward among the stars of Virgo and shares the
southwestern sky with that constellation's brightest star, Spica. You
can use Spica to gauge the quality of the atmospheric"seeing" before
you point your telescope at the ringed planet; if the star is
"twinkling" vigorously you're probably not going to get a decent view.
However, if the star looks very steady, Saturn should be a glorious
sight.
Both Jupiter and Mars now rise before the beginning of morning
twilight, but your best views of them will probably be had about an
hour before sunrise. You should have no trouble spotting Jupiter as
August opens, and he'll climb higherin the east-northeast with each
passing morning. Below and to the left of Jupiter you should be able
tospot the dimmer red glimmer of Mars. As July winds down and August
opens you should also be able to catch a glimpse of elusive Mercury,
which reaches greatest elongation west of the Sun on July 30th.
Mercury will be slightly brighter than Mars but a bit closer to the
horizon. You should be able to keep him in view through August's first
week; he'll then get lost in the solar glare.
I hope that most of you will have a chance to get out and do some
serious viewing. It's one of my favorite summer activities, and if I
see something really special I'll be sure to share it with you over
the next several weeks.

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