2018 Week 29: (July 15-July 21)

Summer is in full swing and the weather for astronomy has been amazing.  There is no smoke in the air and the clouds have stayed away.  The weather for the upcoming week is looking great!  There are a few things to check out in the sky.  The table below showcases our skies for the week!

Date	Event
July 15	Regulus 1.8°S of Moon
July 15	Venus 1.6°S of Moon
July 19	First Quarter
July 20	Jupiter 4° of Moon

An excellent article written by Nicole Mortillaro highlights the 5 naked eye planets that can be seen in the sky!  Check it out and see if you can spot them all; Mercury is a tough nut to crack sometimes, though.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/5-planets-night-sky-1.4745932

The Moon is beginning another lunar cycle and will be seen as a waxing crescent in the western sky.  It will pair up with Leo's bright star Regulus on Sunday while hanging out with Venus.  It cruises on to its first quarter phase several days later.

The Moon will then appear alongside the largest planet, Jupiter, next Friday.

This raises an interesting point.  If you would like to check out Jupiter, be sure to see it soon.  Jupiter is slowly approaching the western horizon and will soon be soaked in sunshine.  Also, as it gets lower in the sky the atmospheric interference will disrupt the seeing such that it will look like it's boiling!

Saturn is amazing at this time of the year as it stands high in the southern sky at midnight.  There are 11 Messier objects within 8° of our ringed friend.  A telescope will help pull these into view.  Alternatively you could try binoculars.  I was able to see most of them from light polluted suburban skies with a pair just the other night.  The image below highlights these special objects.

Saturn and Friends

Following Saturn is the Greek war god Mars.  The red planet is usually a boring object in the sky, barely shining bright enough to tell it apart from a star.  However, every 28 months Mars reaches what is known as opposition.  The image below illustrates this orbital geometry.  We are fortunate this year that Mars and Earth are extremely close to each other in their elliptical orbits.

Mars Oppositions 2012-2027 (Image Credit: Martin J Powell, www.nakedeyeplanets.com)

The unfortunate news about Mars is there is currently a significant global dust storm.  This storm is shrouding the planet against our peering eyes.  It is nearly impossible to make out any significant features on the surface.  The article below goes into this in more detail.

https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/is-the-mars-opposition-already-over/

The Opportunity rover is currently in safe mode as it is powered by solar and is not getting enough energy.  Curiosity, on the other hand, is powered by radioisotopes and can function seamlessly through storms like this.  Curiosity even took a selfie to commemorate the storm.

Curiosity (Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

I hope you take the time to get outside and enjoy the night sky.  If you plan on leaving the city to go camping, bring along some binoculars and sit under the stars.  The sky is an amazing place full of endless things to observe.