The following is a list of some interesting things to see up in the sky this week, July 1st thru July 8, 2007. Some of the events and times given are specific to the Colorado front range (40° N and the MDT timezone).
Highlights
- Venus and Saturn very close together (50 arc-min) this evening July 1st
- Watch the moon Io and the Great Red Spot cross Jupiter’s disk 9:30 to 11:30 pm evening of July 3rd
International Space Station
There are no visible passes this week.
Sun
The Sun rises 5:37 to 5:40 am MDT this week. It sets 8:36 to 8:34 pm this week. Region 10961 was visible just past mid disk today. It is fairly large, increasing in size and complexity but no flares have yet occurred. It will disappear from our view next Sunday, July 8. Solar activity is expected to be at low levels this week.
Moon
The Moon is transitioning from full to the third quarter phase. The third quarter will be next Saturday at 10:54 am MDT.
Planets
Venus is in constellation Leo and is magnitude -4.3. It is a good time to view Venus with your telescope as the crescent is very distinct. The appearance is similar to that of a 4 or 5 day old moon. It is in now only 25 degrees above the horizon at sunset. It will no longer be visible in the evenings by early August.
Saturn is magnitude +1.1 in the constellation Leo. It is still very close, less than a degree to the upper right of Venus. It also will no longer be visible in the evening by August.
Jupiter is nearly straight south around 11pm in constellation Ophiuchus and just to the upper left of Antares. It is quite bright at magnitude -2.4. If you have a telescope watch for the Great Red Spot (GRS) cross the middle of Jupiter at the following times this week:
Evening July 1st at 9:46 pm
Morning July 3 at 3:33 am
Evening July 3 at 11:24 pm
Morning July 5 at 5:11 am
Morning July 6 at 1:02 am
Evening July 6 at 8:54 pm
Morning July 8 at 2:40 am
The GRS can be seen for about an hour before and after the times indicated.
Jupiter’s moon Io begins to transit across the disk at the following times this week:
Morning Mon July 2 2:50 am MDT.
Evening Tues July 3 9:20 pm MDT
Evening Fri July 6 9:05 pm MDT
Morning Mon July 9 4:42 am MDT
Pluto is magnitude +13.9 in constellation Sagittarius
Mars is in constellation Aries and is magnitude +0.7. It rises in the ENE just before 2 am.
Uranus is magnitude +5.8 and is in the constellation Aquarius.
Neptune is magnitude +7.9 and is in the constellation Capricornus.
Mercury appears very low in the eastern sky later in the week just before sunrise.
Comets
This week may be the best time to observe Comet C/2006 VZ13 (Linear), it will disappear from our view in mid-August. It is near peak brightness at magnitude 8 tonight Sunday, July 1st, so its within range of small scopes and giant binoculars. It will dim to magnitude 10.5 later in the week. It is currently in constellation Draco. It has a 2.5 arc min wide halo, there is no tail. See http://www.skyhound.com/sh/comets/2006_VZ13.gif for a finder chart. Unfortunately, the near full moon will make it tough to locate, it may be best to wait until July 3 and try to locate it before the moon rises at about 11 pm.
Asteroids
There are 12 asteroids that are brighter than magnitude 11 this week. Locating asteroids visually is a challenge and a lot tougher than the magnitude might indicate. You’ll need accurate star charts to locate and sketch positions. Positions below are for July 7 at 10:30 pm MDT.
Name Constellation RA Dec Mag
21 Lutetia Scorpius 16:00:50 -20 34′09″ 10.8
4 Vesta Scorpius 16:05:10 -16 09′30″ 6.2
9 Metis Sagittarius 17:50:20 -27 15′24″ 10.0
1166 Sakuntala Sagittarrius 19:01:27 -21 24′03″ 10.5
80 Sappho Aquila 20:14:59 -03 03′30″ 10.4
354 Eleonora Capricornus 20:29:04 -09 10′57″ 10.9
40 Harmonia Capricornus 21:17:22 -19 26′10″ 10.0
194 Prokne Pegasus 21:53:56 +04 06′14″ 10.6
2 Pallas Pegasus 22:54:59 +10 53′37″ 9.9
12 Victoria Pisces 00:30:54 +14 13′26″ 10.8
8 Flora Pisces 02:06:09 +06 55′53″ 10.4
29 Amphitrite Aries 02:30:46 +17 00′24″ 10.9
Deep Sky
On the Fourth, the moon rises after 11 pm and after 1 am by Saturday night, so we can get in some early evening dark sky views this week. There are lots of great objects this time of year. The globular cluster M13 in Hercules is high overhead, the Ring Nebula, M57, in Lyra is very high up in the east. The supernova remnants, Veil (east) NGC6992/5 and NGC6960 (west), in Cygnus are in good position. The impressive Dumbbell planetary nebula in Vulpecula is in position as well . Down south are the Eagle Nebula (M16) in Serpens. The Lagoon Nebula, M8, and the Trifid Nebula, M20 provide great views in Sagittarius.
