Tonight In The Sky July 2010

Mercury will not be a great telescope target this month. It will be visible midmonth low on the horizon just after sunset. It will be at magnitude -0.5 but fighting in the glare. It dims the rest of the month making it harder to see. Mercury appears white in color.

Venus will be high in the evening sky at dusk all month. It will be shining very brightly at magnitude -4.3 by the end of the month. Through a telescope Venus will not change much in appearance. Clouds always obscure its surface. Venus will appear to be 71% illuminated early in the month. As the month goes on the percentage illuminated shrinks to 58% as the size of the disk increases. Venus will appear white in color.

Mars will be visible in the south west sky as it grows dark. Mars will shine at magnitude 1.4 at midmonth. While still relatively bright, through a backyard telescope Mars will be too small to see any detail. Saturn will approach to within 2º of Mars at the end of the month. Mars shines red orange in color.

Jupiter will be high in the southern sky before dawn this month. It will be shinning brightly at magnitude -2.6 so it should be very obviously brighter than any star in that part of the sky. The best time to observe it would be a few hours after midnight when it will be very high in the southern sky. This will be a great time to observe it – when it is big and bright high in the southern sky. Jupiter shines white in color.

Saturn will be in the sky to the southwest in western Virgo as it grows dark. This would be the time to get a telescope on it – when there is less atmosphere to look through. Saturn will peak around magnitude 1.1 this month. At the end of the month Mars will be 2º from Saturn. A very bright Venus will be in the area too. Saturn would appear even brighter if its ring system were tilted at a steeper angle. This month they will be 3º from edge on. There are some advantages to having the rings close to edge on. This is the best time to notice Saturn’s subtle cloud belts and medicine ball outline. Saturn appears yellowish in color.

Pluto will be a possible target this month. It was at its “best”, at opposition, on the 26th of June. This means it will still be at its biggest and brightest for the year directly south at midnight, in Sagittarius. This is the best time to try to look for it. Around midnight it will be as high in the sky as it gets which means that you will be looking through less atmosphere. Pluto will be at magnitude 14.0. Pluto is always a tough target. Its current location in Sagittarius means that there will be a lot of similar magnitude stars making Pluto hard to identify. Near perfect conditions, dark calm skies, a good starchart and at least an 8” telescope are needed to see Pluto.