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TONIGHT'S SKY
Tonight's Sky
The sky is not a painting, it's a movie. Stars pulse, flare, some explode as supernova, asteroids whiz by the earth, new comets appear in the sky, Aurora sets the northern skies ablaze and meteors streak through Earth's atmosphere.
See Hubble site Tonight's Sky highlights of this months night sky movie with narration below. Click on photo below.
See: Use your hand to find degrees
NASA Night Sky Network Planner
The AstroPlanner free download.
Download a free starmap at: Skymaps
Download a free Planetarium for your computer at: Stellarium or Hallo Northern Sky Stellarium has many extra features.
The Full Moon for July
The Full Buck Moon – July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month’s Moon was the Full Hay Moon.
| Last Quarter Moon | July 4 | 10:35 am EDT |
| New Moon | July 11 | 3:45 pm EDT |
| First Quarter Moon | July 18 | 6:11 am EDT |
| Full Moon | July 25 | 9:37 pm EDT |
The Planets Visibility for July
Mercury
Mercury is in the evening sky early July. By the middle of July it is at magnitude -0.5, dropping to +0.1 at the end of the month. Midmonth Mercury should be possible to see with the unaided eye.
Venus
Venus is magnitude -4.1 to -4.3, diameter 15.5" to19.7", phase 71% to 59% lit) Venus is the brightest object other than the moon in the western sky after sunset . By end of month Venus will be 6-7 degrees from Mars and Saturn.
Mars
Mars at magnitude +1.3 to +1.5, diameter 5.2" to 4.7") and is located between Venus and Saturn. Mars moves from the constellation Leo into the constellation Virgo on July 19th. Mars begins the month 15 degrees from Saturn, but less than 2 degrees from Saturn at the end of July.
Well worth checking this view of the
Mars polar cap
out.
To see which part of the
surface is visible at any time, check out the
Mars
Profiler at Sky & Telescope Magazine's web page.
JUPITER
Jupiter is magnitude -2.5 to -2.7, diameter 41.5" to 45.6"), is located in the constellation Pisces, rising just after midnight on July 15 and at months end rises about 10:30. On July 23 it begins its retrograde motion moving east to west with respect to the stars.
Check out Sky & Telescope's Jupiter Moons Utility for other configurations. Sky and Telescope Red Spot Calculator
SATURN
Saturn magnitude +1.1, diameter 17.2" and is in the Virgo constellation. Saturn's rings are nearly edge on and they will appear this way for another 15 years. Mars and Saturn will be only 2 degrees apart at end of month. See: Saturn's moons locations
URANUS
Uranus magnitude +5.8, diameter 3.6" located in Pisces. Jupiter is 3 degrees to the right of Uranus at the end of the month. Uranus began its retrograde motion on the July 5th.
NEPTUNE
Neptune magnitude +7.8, diameter 2.3") is in the constellation Aquarius.
Dwarf Planets
Pluto
Pluto magnitude +14.0, diameter 0.1" is in Sagittarius high in the south southeast by 11 p.m. Pluto is very close to 11.1ni magnitude M-24 this month.
Minor Planets
4 Vesta is can be found in Leo the
Lion midmonth at 7.8 magnitude.
July comets brighter than 8th magnitude based on current estimates for northern hemisphere observers
Currently there are no comets brighter than 8 magnitude
For more on Comets and locations see: Seiichi Yoshida web site here.
JULY METEORS
The Delta Aquarid meteors peaks on July 28, usually produce up to 15 or 20 meteors per hour at peak; this year, however, the occurrence of the Full Moon three days earlier ruins views of the maximum.
Some local links below to Heavens Above satellite information website.
Satellites visible from Hanover
Satellites visible from Gettysburg
Satellites visible from Lancaster
Satellites visible from Baltimore
Satellites visible from Harrisburg
The Sun
Real time solar wind dials are linked live to the ACE Spacecraft.
If the dial on the left (Magnetic Field) has dipped below zero, the speed is high and the dial dynamic pressure is in the yellow/red, be alert for Aurora. Anytime the gauges are in the Red and the dial on the left, the Magnetic Field BZ has dipped to the yellow-red... Aurora will be occurring in our area. See link to solar wind gauge here: REAL TIME SOLAR WIND
See explanation of solar wind dials below by clicking on photo of dials
Solar Wind Dials
See Hubble Tonight's Sky site.