2018 Week 28: (July 8-July 14)

This upcoming week looks to be very warm with clear skies.  This is good because there are many sights in the sky to check out!  The table below highlights these events!

Date	Event
July 9	Venus 1.1°N of Regulus
July 10	Aldebaran 1.1°S of Moon (Occultation)
July 10	Jupiter Stationary
July 11	Mercury Greatest Elongation East
July 12	Pluto at Opposition
July 12	New Moon (Supermoon)
July 12	Partial Solar Eclipse (Southeastern Australia)
July 14	Moon 1.4°S of Beehive (M44)
July 14	Mercury 2°S of Moon

We start off the week with a close conjunction of Venus and Regulus, the heart of Leo the Lion.  This will occur in the western sky just after sunset.  If you are lucky you may be able to glimpse the smallest planet, Mercury.  Mercury will reach its greatest elongation East on Wednesday, making it easier to see.  A map of this region is shown below.

Venus/Regulus Conjunction

What is more exciting is about 4 hours later the waning crescent Moon will occult Aldebaran in the morning sky.  Unfortunately this happens just out of our view below the eastern horizon.  They will, however, be in the same telescopic field as they rise just before the Sun in the morning.

Jupiter will continue its prograde motion on Tuesday and once again move eastward compared to the background stars.  You can still catch the large planet in Libra, a little more than 1°W of the Alpha star known as Zubenelgenubi.

The dwarf planet Pluto will be at opposition on Thursday.  Pluto is situated in the starry region of the constellation Sagittarius, only 10 arcminutes from the rural naked eye star 50 Sagittarii.  This would be a great challenge object for those with somewhat large aperture telescopes.  Pluto will be at magnitude 14.2 with a declination of 21°S.  This will be fairly difficult for Calgary observers.  Find a clear view of the southern horizon, stick 50 Sag in your view and sketch the field.  Repeat this several times and see if any of the sketched 'stars' have moved.  That will be Pluto.  The only good news is the Moon will be new, thus removing it as a potential source of light pollution.

Pluto (Image Credit: NASA)

The New Moon this month will be considered a Supermoon.  Why haven't you heard about this in the media?  It doesn't have the same hype as when the Full Moon is a Supermoon.  However, the tides will likely be noticeably higher if you are lying on a beach somewhere enjoying the Summer.

There will be a partial solar eclipse occurring on July 13, however do not get too excited.  It will be visible for the very edge of southeastern Australia and all of Tasmania.

The 14th of July we will once again start seeing the waxing crescent Moon in the sunset sky.  It will be in conjunction with the Beehive Cluster and Mercury on this night.  The conjunction with the Beehive will occur when the Sun is still up so you will not be able to see it from Calgary.  However, if you look at the western horizon right after the sun goes down you will be able to catch the Moon and Mercury within the same binocular field.  The next night the Moon will be hanging around Venus and 3 Messier Objects!  That is a story for next week.