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Stars In the Sky 07/2009
With the exception of Saturn, the other planets will not be visible until
later in the night and early morning.
Jupiter will be close to its biggest and brightest this month.
Venus will be extremely bright in the eastern sky before sunrise all month.
The much dimmer and smaller Mars will be higher in the sky all month.
Saturn will sit in the southwest sky when it gets dark. It will be a fair target
in July. Observe it this month as it will fading into the twilight next month.
Dim Neptune will be very close to the very much brighter Jupiter in the morning
sky all month.
On July 22 the longest Total Solar Eclipse of the century will take place across
India and China but mostly out over the Pacific Ocean. None of it will be visible
from the U.S.
 Mercury
will be nearly impossible to see this month. For the first few days of
the month it might be able to be seen very low on the eastern horizon
before dawn. The rest of the month it will be invisible because it will
be too close to the sun. On the 13th it will go behind the Sun.
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 Venus
will be stunningly bright in the eastern sky before sunrise. Venus will
be shinning at magnitude -4.1 which is dimmer than last month but still
the brightest "star" in the sky. Only the Sun and the Moon appear
brighter. The bright white Venus will be close to the much dimmer red Mars
all month. On the 1st they will be around 4º apart. This month, through
a telescope, Venus will shrink in size but grow in phase (percentage lit
up). |
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 Mars
will be in the eastern predawn this month. It will shine at Magnitude 1.1
but its small size will make it a marginal telescope target this month.
It will be easy to spot though because the much brighter Venus is nearby
all month. On the 1st Mars will be around 4º higher.
Mars shines red orange in color.
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 Jupiter
will rise in the southeast as it gets dark so around midnight it will
high in the southern sky around midnight. This will be the best time to
observe it. It will be shinning brilliant white at magnitude -2.8 which
easily makes it the brightest object in this area of the sky. Jupiter
is in the constellation Capricornus. With its belts on the surface and
four orbiting moons Jupiter is a good target even through a small telescope
especially this month and in August.
The much dimmer Neptune will be less than 2º from Jupiter all month.
On the 1st Jupiter will be 0.7º southeast of Neptune. On the 13th
Jupiter will be 0.6º to the south. They both could be visible through
a telescope with a low power eyepiece.
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 Saturn
will be in the southwest at dusk. Aside from the Moon it will be the only
planet out before around midnight. It will be around Magnitude 1.1 this
month. Through a telescope it will be seen that its beautiful ring system
appears very close to edge on. This makes Saturn's other features
more noticeable. This will be a good month to observe Saturn. It is well
positioned in the sky as it gets dark.
It is starting to fade into the west. It will be setting earlier every
day so target it before it gets any lower. Go out in July to observe it.
Next month the ring system gets even more edge on and the planet drops
down into the sunset glare. Saturn appears yellow-orange in color.
A side effect of Saturn's rings being close to edge on to the sun
is that Saturn's moons can cast shadows on Saturn's surface.
Under good conditions, through a telescope, we can see a moon's
shadow travel across the surface. Saturn's largest moon Titan cast
the largest shadow. Saturn's other moons are smaller and thus the
shadows are much tougher to spot. There will be a good chance to see two
this month. On the 1st around 7:49PM PST Titan's shadow will start
across Saturn's face. On the 17th around 7:00PM PST Titan's
shadow will start across Saturn's face. Shadow transits on Saturn
are somewhat rare because they only happen when the rings are near edge
on to the Sun.
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 Uranus
should be easy to spot this month. It will rise about an hour after Jupiter
does. It will be shining at Magnitude 5.8 in Pisces. This puts it below
Jupiter and Neptune but above Venus and Mars. It should be high enough above
the horizon to look for it through a telescope just after midnight. Uranus
shines with a pale aquamarine color. Under ideal conditions it is bright
enough to be a marginal naked eye target and an easy binocular target. |
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 Neptune
will be at Magnitude 7.8 this month. This makes it an easy binocular target
from dark skies. The much brighter Jupiter will be less than 2º from
Neptune all month. On the 1st Neptune will be 0.7º northwest of Jupiter.
On the 13th Neptune will be 0.6º to the north. They both could be visible
through a telescope with a low power eyepiece. Neptune shines a pale blue
in color. |
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 Pluto
reached opposition last month. This is the best time this year to try
to find it. It will be close its brightest for the year and sit at its
highest in the sky straight to the south at midnight. Pluto will still
be a very tough target. It shines at only Magnitude 13.9. It sits in northern
Sagittarius. You will need a good finder chart, lots of patience and about
a 10" telescope to find it. Even if you are looking at it would
be tough to be sure. Taking two CCD images one day apart may show one
"star" moving slightly against the background stars. The moving
"star" should be Pluto.
This may be a god time to try to see Pluto if you have not before. It
is moving away from earth so it will be getting even smaller and dimmer.
Also it is heading toward a denser part of the Milky Way where it will
be even harder to pick out from the background stars.
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