Skywatch July 2004

Sky Watch - July 2004 By Julene M. Johnson

This month Mars descends into the sunset and Saturn appears as a morning star. The southern radiant of the Delta Aquarid meteor shower peaks. Two Full Moons occur. The second occurrence of a Full Moon in one month is where the saying Òonce in a blue moonÓ comes from. This of course does not mean the moon is actually blue.

Observations this month in the northern hemisphere begin with Mercury and Mars as evening stars, low along the west-northwest horizon at sunset. Viewing the sky at sunset when it is not populated by so many stars, allows us to find some of the brighter alpha stars of the zodiac. The stars that appear near Mercury, the lowest planet to the horizon, are Pollux and Castor, the heads of the Gemini Twins. Following the ecliptic east, Mars appears in the constellation Cancer. Mars is quite dim. If you continue to trace that same line east along the ecliptic toward Jupiter, you will run through the fixed star Regulus of Leo. Jupiter is farther back in the same constellation. Continuing along the ecliptic, you will encounter the fixed star Spica in the constellation Virgo. Heading now more toward the eastern horizon at sunset, the reddish star you encounter in the constellation Scorpius is Antares. The Full Moon on the 2nd rises with the sunset and takes us all the way to the eastern horizon. Saturn is traveling too close to the Sun to be visible at the onset of July; they conjunct on the 8th.

During the first week of July, watch as Mercury gains on Mars in the evening sky. The pair conjunct on the 10th and Mercury will climb higher in the evening sky than Mars this month. The Sun and Mars begin the month with a 25 degree angular separation. By monthÕs end the Sun gains 10 degrees on Mars, decreasing their separation to 15 degrees. This means we will observe Mars descending into the Sunset this month. On the 18th at sunset, you will find a slight sliver of yesterdays New Moon hanging just above and to the right of Mars, very low along the horizon. By the 19th the Moon passes Mercury. Mars falls under the sunÕs beams on the 24th when the Sun is 17 degrees away. Because Mars is so dim, he will not likely be seen after the evening of the 23rd unless you have exceptional atmospheric conditions in a rural area. A sky map for the 19th at 9:30 depicting Mars, Mercury, Moon and Jupiter is available in the OCA Public Library.

Mercury reaches greatest eastern elongation on the 28th. This means he is traveling as far east of the Sun that he possibly can at this time. Mercury is quite the speedy mover in July. He begins at the eastern edge of Gemini near the heads of the twins, moves through the dim stars of Cancer and ends up at Regulus of Leo by monthÕs end.

JupiterÕs reign as an evening star is soon to end, as the Sun moves into Leo. At the beginning of the month Jupiter sets around midnight, EDT. By the end of the month he sets around 10:20 p.m. On the evening of the 20th the moon is west of Jupiter, hanging below and slightly right. By the 21st, she passes him up to dance above and to the left or east.

Venus appears as a morning star this month. She rises around 4:30 a.m. just above the alpha star of Taurus, Aldebaran in the northern hemisphere. By monthÕs end she rises around 3:30. Her movement through the constellation Taurus is evident. By monthÕs end she will rise just above Zeta Tauri the lower horn of the Bull. The Moon dances with Venus on the morning of the 14th. A slender Balsamic Moon will rise to the left of Venus, and right of the El Nath, the higher horn of the bull.

The Sun conjuncts Saturn on the 8th. He left our evening sky last month when he fell under the SunÕs beams. As the Sun pulls east in his faster movement, this causes Saturn to appear as a morning star. He will be clear of the SunÕs beams by the morning of the 29th and we can locate him low along eastern horizon just before sunrise.

The Delta Aquarids have 2 radiants in the constellation Aquarius, meaning there are 2 places in this area where the shooting stars will stem from. The southern radiant of the shower occurs from July 12th Ð August 19th and peaks on the 28th. 15 to 20 meteors per hour traveling at the speed of 41 km/sec are expected at the peak. The northern radiant of the shower occurs from July 16th Ð September 10th and will peak next month on August 13th with the expectation being 10 per hour. In the northern hemisphere, Aquarius does not climb very high above the horizon, so southern hemisphere observers are favored. The best time for northern hemisphere observers to view the Delta Aquarius is after midnight until sunrise. Observers in the southern hemisphere may begin to see shoot stars around 10:00 p.m. and because the ecliptic climbs so high in the night sky, the radiants will occur high enough over head to reap the full benefits of the maximum display.

Observers in the southern hemisphere will find Mars along the west-northwest horizon at sunset in the beginning of the month. He will set around 7:45 p.m. at the beginning of the month and will gradually descend into the sunset as the month progresses until he disappears entirely from view. On the 19th a slender Crescent Moon will dance to the right of Mars.

The steep inclination of the ecliptic allows Mercury to climb high above the horizon for southern hemisphere observers. Watch as Mercury gains on Mars. Mercury will hang just below Mars on the evening of the 10th and pass him slightly by the evening of the 11th. By the 19th Mercury will pull significantly higher in the sky than Mars who is joined by the Moon. By the evening of the 20th, the Moon will be past Mercury. A sky map of the evening sky on the 11th at 7:30 p.m. depicting Mercury, Mars and Jupiter is available in the OCA Public Library.

The Moon will hang below Jupiter on the evening of the 21st and above him on the 22nd. Jupiter sets around 11:15 p.m. at the beginning of July and around 9:45 by monthÕs end.

Venus rises around 6:30 a.m. in the east-northeast at the beginning of July just below Aldebaran of Taurus in the southern hemisphere. She rises around 5:30 a.m. by monthÕs end, followed by Zeta Tauri, hanging below. The Moon dances above Venus on the morning of the 13th and below on the 14th.

The Moon data for the month in Eastern Daylight Time is as follows. The Moon reaches perigee of 357,449 km from Earth on the 1st at 7:01 p.m. The first Full Moon occurs on the 2nd at 7:09 a.m. The Third Quarter Moon occurs on the 9th at 8:51 a.m. The Moon reaches apogee on the 14th at a distance of 406,191 km from Earth. The New Moon occurs on the 17th at 7:24 a.m. The First Quarter Moon occurs on the 24th at 11:37 p.m. The Moon reaches perigee on the 30th at 2:27 a.m. The distance is 360,325 km from Earth. The second Full Moon occurs on the 31st at 2:05 p.m.

Happy star gazing!

Julene M. Johnson, NCGR-III
Media Director, OCA
Instructor, OCA
ONLINE College of Astrology
www.astrocollege.com
FIRST in Online Astrological Education