Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events. All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT). Nightly darkness estimates are calculated for Greenwich, London (51.5° N, 0° W).
| Date | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sat | 2 Pallas is at opposition in the constellation Hercules. A small telescope will be needed to see this tenth-magnitude minor planet. |
| Moon at apogee | ||
| 2 | Sun | |
| 3 | Mon | First Quarter Moon |
| Earth at aphelion | ||
| 4 | Tue | Moon occults Spica: visible from the southern part of Africa and the Indian Ocean from approximately 1600 UT |
| 5 | Wed | |
| 6 | Thu | |
| 7 | Fri | |
| 8 | Sat | Moon occults Antares: visible from eastern Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific from approximately 0700 UT |
| 9 | Sun | |
| 10 | Mon | |
| 11 | Tue | Full Moon |
| 12 | Wed | |
| 13 | Thu | Moon at perigee |
| 14 | Fri | Moon occults Uranus: visible from the Indian Ocean from approximately 2200 UT |
| 15 | Sat | |
| 16 | Sun | |
| 17 | Mon | Last Quarter Moon |
| 18 | Tue | Mercury at inferior conjunction |
| 19 | Wed | |
| 20 | Thu | |
| 21 | Fri | |
| 22 | Sat | |
| 23 | Sun | |
| 24 | Mon | |
| 25 | Tue | New Moon |
| 26 | Wed | |
| 27 | Thu | Moon occults Mars during daylight hours in the Arctic. |
| 28 | Fri | The waxing crescent Moon is no obstacle to viewing the Delta Aquariids meteor shower. |
| 29 | Sat | Moon at apogee |
| 30 | Sun | |
| 31 | Mon | |
The word planet is derived from the Greek word for "wanderer." Unlike the background stars, planets seem to move around the sky, keeping mostly to a narrow track called the ecliptic, the path of the Sun across the stars.
| Object | Location | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sun | Gemini -> Cancer |
The Earth reaches its farthest distance from the Sun on 3 July. |
| Mercury | Cancer -> Gemini |
The nearest planet to the Sun is getting lower in the northwest after sunset and is gone by midmonth when it undergoes inferior conjunction on 18 July. It reappears by the end of the month in the eastern sky just ahead of sunrise. |
| Venus | Taurus -> Gemini |
The "morning star" is beginning to descend towards the northeast horizon. Northern hemisphere observers have just the better view of this bright object. |
| Mars | Cancer -> Leo |
The red planet passes by the first-magnitude star Regulus on 22 July and is occulted by the Moon five days later. Look for Mars in the west after sunset; it sets by mid-evening. |
| Jupiter | Libra | The largest of the planets sets before midnight by the end of the month. |
| Saturn | Cancer | Because it reaches conjunction next month, the ringed planet is very difficult to observe at this time. |
| Uranus | Aquarius | This gas giant rises in mid-evening. |
| Neptune | Capricornus | Neptune rises about an hour ahead of its outer solar system neighbour Uranus. |
| Pluto | Serpens (Cauda) | With a brightness of around fourteenth magnitude, the smallest planet in the solar system can be seen only through a good-sized telescope. Since it was at opposition last month, it is up most of the night. |
Constellations are patterns of stars in the sky. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recognises 88 different constellations. The brightest stars as seen from the Earth are easy to spot but do you know their proper names? With a set of binoculars you can look for fainter objects such as nebulae and galaxies or some of the closest stars to the Sun.
Descriptions of the sky for observers in both the northern and southern hemispheres are available for the following times this month. Subtract one hour from your local time if summer (daylight savings) time is in effect.
| Local Time | Northern Hemisphere | Southern Hemisphere |
|---|---|---|
| 1730 hours (1830 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 1930 hours (2030 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 2130 hours (2230 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 2330 hours (0030 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 0130 hours (0230 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 0330 hours (0430 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
| 0530 hours (0630 hours summer time) | 45° N | 30° S |
Much of this information can be found in this month's issue of your favourite amateur astronomy magazine available in your local bookshop. Another excellent source is the current edition of the Astronomical Calendar by Guy Ottewell and published by the Universal Workshop at Furman University.
The image of the Sun in the SkyEye banner is courtesy of the SOHO/EIT consortium. The composite image from May 1998 combines EIT images from three wavelengths (171Å, 195Å and 284Å) into one that reveals solar features unique to each wavelength. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.
Copyright © 1995-2006 by David Harper and L.M. Stockman