2017 Week 31: (July 30-August 5)

Here we are at the 31st week of 2017 and the beginning of August.  The weather has been hot and the smoke from the British Columbia wildfires have caused the sky to be gloomy.  Late in the evening you can see the Autumnal constellations rising in the East.

Date	Event
July 30	First Quarter
August 3	Saturn 3°S of Moon
August 3	Uranus Stationary

The Moon will be at first quarter on Sunday, July 30 and will likely appear red due to the smoke from the fires.  Dimmer objects in the sky will likely not be visible due to the poor transparency expected this week.  As the Moon moves toward the East it will be in conjunction with Saturn on Thursday evening.  Saturn will appear directly South as a non-twinkling bright yellowish object.  A telescope will reveal its rings and Moons.

First Quarter Moon

On the same evening Uranus will seem to be stationary as it begins its retrograde motion.  It will be moving West through the constellation Pisces and observable to those with binoculars or telescopes.  If you have a great eye and perfect dark skies Uranus is possible to view with your naked eye.

We are now sitting 3 weeks away from the solar eclipse.  Hopefully the sky will be free from clouds so that we may all witness this great event.  Speaking of eclipses, there will be a partial lunar eclipse happening next Monday.  However, it will be visible to those occupying the Eastern Hemisphere.  Let them have their partial lunar eclipse, us western hemispherians will have a total solar eclipse without them!

Keep your eyes on the sky as it gets darker earlier.  There will be plenty of great things to see with just the naked eye.  Stay tuned for the blog post next week where the great Perseid meteor shower will be discussed!