Sky this Week
The following is a list of some things to see in the sky this week, July 15 thru July 21, 2007. Some of the events and times given are specific to the Colorado front range (40° N and the MDT timezone).
Highlights
- Comet C/2006 VZ13 (Linear) easily spotted in small scopes
- Sunday July 15 spot the thin crescent Moon low in the WNW
- Monday July 16 the Moon, Saturn, Venus, and Regulus will grouped together after sunset
- Wednesday July 18 both Io transit and the GRS cross the disk 1 to 2 am
International Space Station
There are a number of bright passes this week, all in the early morning. The best ones are:
- Mon Jul 16: magnitude -0.9 rises 04:17:06 in S, disappears in the ENE at 04:20:27 am MDT
- Tues July 17: magnitude -2.5 rises in SW 04:36:08, disappears in the NE at 04:40:32
- Wed July 18: magnitude -1 rises in W at 04:55:06 and disappears 05:00:07 am in NE
- Thur July 19: magnitude -2.0 rises in ENE at 03:42:47 disappears in the NE at 03:45:11 am
- Fri July 20: magnitude -1.2 rises in the WNW at 04:01:35 and disappears in NE at 04:04:44am
Sun
Sunrise is 5:46 to 5:51 am MDT and sunset is 8:31 to 8:37 pm this week. Region 10963 is still quite large and now about midway between center and the west limb (right). It was active for a while but is now decreasing in size. It will rotate over the west limb on Thurs.
Moon
The thin cresecent moon will be beautiful to view in the western sky after sunset early in the week.
Sun July 15 the Moon sets at 9:37 pm so there should be time to spot the thin crescent in WNW.
Mon July 16 the Moon and Saturn will be within 2 degrees of each other after sunset. Venus and star Regulus nearby as well.
Locate Promotorum Agorum in the southeast Mare Crisium
Tues July 17 Mare Crisium, Cleomedes, Langrenus, Vallis Rheita
Wed July 18 Mare Fecunditatis Picard, Petavius Wall,
Thur July 19 Theophilus and Cyrillus, Rupes Altai, Lacus Mortis, Mitchell
Fri July 20 Maurolycus, Vallis Alpes, Appenines, Mons Hadley, Palles Putredinis
Locate the Apollo 11 landing site in the southwest part of Mare Tranquillitatis just south of crater Lamont. July 20 is the 38th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing in 1969.
Sat July 21 Hipparchus, Cassini, Mons Piton, Vallis Alpes
Planets
Venus is low in the west after sunset but still quite bright at -4.4 magnitude. It sets 10:04pm to 9:42 pm this week.
Saturn is low in the west after sunset as well. It is +1.1 magnitude and sets 10:01 pm to 9:43 pm.
Jupiter is magnitude -2.3 in brightness and is straight south at 9:45 pm in constellation Ophiuchus. It sets 2:41 am to 2:20 am.
The Great Red Spot (GRS) crosses the center at the following times:Sun July 15 11:19 pm
Wed July 18 0:46 am
Wed July 18 8:47 pm
Fri July 20 02:35am (Jupiter sets 02:32)
Fri July 20 10:25 pmThe shadow from Jupiter’s moons may be seen crossing the disk at the following times:
Wed July 18 0:54 Io transit starts
Sat July 21 01:50 am Europa transit starts
Sat July 21 21:48 pm Ganymede transit starts
Pluto is in the northern part of constellation Sagitarrius. It is magnitude +13.9 so you’ll need at least a 10 inch scope and accurate charts to locate.
Uranus is in constellation Aquarius and is +5.8 magnitude .
Neptune is in constellation Capricornus and is magnitude +7.8. It rises after 9:42 pm.
Mars is in constellation Aries. It is magnitude +0.6 and rises 1:20 am to 1:10 am this week. Dust storms in the southern hemisphere are reducing the atmospheric opacity and affecting landers and orbiting spacecraft. See http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/8454732.html
Mercury rises 04:26 am in the northeast in constellation Gemini. It brightens from +1.1 to 0.34 this week.
Comets
C/2006 VZ13 (Linear) moves from constellation Bootes into Canes Venatici. It is magnitude 8.8 in brightness and is easy to spot in a small telescope, 60 mm or larger (if you know where to look). It has a large, bright coma. See http://aerith.net/comet/catalog/2006VZ13/2006VZ13.html for charts, etc.
Asteroids
There are 17 asteroids magnitude +11 or brighter. The locations below are for July 21 at 10:30pm MDT.
Name Constellation RA Decl Mag
1 Ceres Cetus 02:58:05 +08 04′00″ 9.1
2 Pallas Pegasus 22:52:58 +10 21′58″ 9.6
4 Vesta Scorpius 16:05:20 -17 18′09″ 6.5
8 Flora Cetus 02:30:56 +08 29′12″ 10.3
9 Metis Ophiuchus 17:39:21 -27 24′16″ 10.3
12 Victoria Pisces 00:46:15 +16 26′34″ 10.6
27 Euterpe Capricornus 21:44:22 -15 15′35″ 10.8
29 Amphitrite Aries 02:49:35 +18 54′41″ 10.8
40 Harmonia Capricornus 21:08:20 -20 45′42″ 9.7
71 Niobe Microscopium 20:34:00 -29 26′12″ 10.6
80 Sappho Aquila 20:03:46 -02 45′20″ 10.1
192 Nausikaa Sagittarius 18:44:02 -33 11′09″ 10.1
194 Prokne Pegasus 21:53:47 +02 41′07″ 10.3
230 Athamantis Pegasus 22:42:02 +07 32′08″ 10.9
354 Eleonora Capricornus 20:19:07 -10 36′45″ 10.7
980 Anacostia Capricornus 20:07:20 -13 13′59″ 10.7
1166 Sakuntala Sagittarius 18:49:28 -24 51′22″ 10.9
Meteor Showers
Sporadic meteor rates (those not associated with any radiant) increase during July and August. In a dark site about 4 per hour can be seen after midnight.
Meteors from the Alpha Capricornids and Delta Aquarids radiants increase mid-July and peak at the end of the month (about 1 to 2 per hour each). There may be a few from next month’s Perseids as well.
Dark Sky Objects
The moon sets before midnight all week so we can still get some dark sky views.
M51 sprial galaxy in Canes Venatici is still high enough for early evening summer views
M101 face on spiral galaxy in Ursa Major is well positioned as well
M64 Blackeye Galaxy in Coma Berenices is bright spiral galaxy with dark lanes
M13 Globular Cluster in Hercules is an amazing sight in a large aperature scope at a dark site.
M16 Eagle Nebula in Serpens
M57 Ring Nebula in Lyra
M4 Globular cluster in Scorpius
M80 globular cluster in Scorpius
NGC 6231 open star cluster in southern Scorpius
M7 naked eye open cluster in Scorpius
M20 Trifid in Sagitarius is a reflection and emission nebula
M8 Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius is a large, bright emission nebula.
M17 Omega or Swan Nebula in Sagittarius.
M27 Dumbbell Nebula in Vulpecula
NGC 6992 Veil Nebula (east) in Cygnus
IC 5146 Cocoon Nebula in Cygnus
NGC 6826 Blinking Planetary
NGC 6543 Cats Eye Nebula in Draco