JULY 2005
Note that recent discoveries and events of immediate importance are always posted
IMPORTANT SKY EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES OF INTEREST TO ASTRONOMERS, PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR, ARE PROVIDED BY ASO
NOTE:  Highlighted events are those that are of interest to observers with modest equipment, or are special events of interest to ALL astronomers!
 
NOTE!! CLICK ON OBJECTS IN BLUE TO LINK WITH MORE ABOUT THIS EVENT!!!  
The Solar System in JULY 2005 : (see also ASO Planet Patrol Image Archives for Daily Updates!)
NOTE:  JUPITER and VENUS dominate the early evening skies, with Mars approaching rapidly toward its spectacular showing in OCTOBER 2005; both Mercury and Venus shine as Evening Stars, while Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are visible best around midnight this month.  This might be the best month for the naked eye observer to actually spot MERCURY easily.
 
Mercury - Look for this planet on July 8, just below brilliant VENUS and aligned with the thin crescent MOON as well!  (see below "Moon" for details!)  By month's end, Mercury will be setting right on the horizon about 30 minutes after sunset in bright dusk skies, but brilliant Venus will still be high above the horizon, located in the "Sickle" asterism of Leo - In LEO
Venus - The brightest of the planets will be in our skies for at least 90 minutes each summer evening of July, just above the western horizon at dusk and just at astronomical darkness; see both MERCURY and MOON for details on interesting pairings of this brilliant object  - in LEO
Mars - Mars rises this month shortly after midnight and both its brightness and size are steadily increasing toward the very favorable opposition in Fall 2005.  Mars will be the same distance from EARTH as the earth is from the sun during the first days of July.....steadily decreasing its distance to Earth for a very favorable view in OCTOBER this year.  Note that this year, the opposition will be MUCH more favorable than the highly touted one of 2003 for northern hemisphere observers since the Red Planet will be very high in the skies as compared to skirting very low in the southern skies two years ago. - In PISCES
Jupiter -  Still quite bright and dominating the "overhead skies" mighty JUPITER is slowly sinking from its Spring 2005 opposition.  Note the very contrasting colors of Jupiter (yellow) and much brighter VENUS (bright white), as the gas giant planet Jupiter looms in our southwest skies at dark.  Note the proximity of Jupiter to the stars PORRIMA and SPICA - In VIRGO
Saturn - Now sinking into the western horizon, the ringed planet is only visible for a few moments in dark skies high in the WNW skies - in GEMINI
Uranus -  This distant planet is observable in moderate sized telescope as a very distinct disk-like bluish object, shining at magnitude 5.8, bright enough to spot in even small telescopes - in CAPRICORNUS.
Neptune - At a faint magnitude 7.9 this month, distant Neptune is high in our skies around midnight - in CAPRICORNUS.
Pluto - Now at opposition (see calendar below), and viewable best near midnight local time, this 14th magnitude distant planet is positioned about as favorably in June as it will get -  In southern OPHIUCHUS
    note:  to locate the three outer planets, we recommend you use the charts from a good planetarium PC program! 
ALSO see page 72 of the June 2005 Sky & Telescope Magazine for yearly details!
---------------------------------------- 
 
Comet Tempel 1 (9P) - reaching its closest pass by the earth this month and now ready to be empacted by an earth-sent satellite, this 9th magnitude comet is the one to watch this month!  Estimates suggest that the comet could brighten enough to see in binoculars after impact!  See Calendar below for details!
...other interesting or brighter comets:
29P (Schwassmann-Wachmann)
Comet C/2004 K1 (Catalina)
Comet P/2005 JQ4
Comet C/2005 K1 (Skiff)
Comet C/2001 Q4 (Neat)
SEE ALSO INDIVIDUAL DATE LISTINGS for faint comets below and for NEW COMETS always refer to the
-----------------------------------------

SPOT THE THIN CRESCENT MOON?
Try catching the waxing crescent (young moon) about 45 minutes after sunset on JULY 7.....this will be an incredibly thin moon, slightly more than a day old, with bright VENUS only a few degrees to its left (south) and not-so-bright SATURN just between your horizon and the thin moon.  The moon will be in very bright dusk skies, so use binoculars AND use Venus as a guide....find the planet first and then slowly sweep to your right and down slightly toward the horizon...you should suddenly see the upward "smile" greet you!  Note that the moon will be slightly more illuminated and MUCH easier to spot on the following night, June 8, when it is higher in darker skies and up a bit longer before setting  In the early evening of July 8, a gorgeous pairing of the crescent moon AND Venus will be seen....Venus just below the moon.  HOWEVER, don't stop there!  If you look directly below VENUS on this same night, you will also see MERCURY in a virtual "straight line" with the moon and Venus....and absolutely stunning sight!. 
------------------------------------------
 
The ASO July Stars  of the Month: LYRA

Beautiful Summertime Constellation:  LYRA (the harp)
The constellation LYRA (pronounced "LIE-rah") ranks among the smallest of the entire regime of official l88 recognized constellations seen from both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Though small in size, it is indeed "Mighty" in memories and imagery....as well as ancient and even more modern history.

The constellation of Lyra will hold special meaning in 15,000 or so years, not that it does not already to many people. As Thuban (alpha Draconis) was the Pole Star (the "north star") for the Egyptian pyramid-builders some 5,000 years ago, so will the bright star VEGA (alpha Lyrae) be in 15,000 years! This is due to the Earth's PRECESSION (wobbling on its axis as it moves through space, like a top askew from its perfect spin) over tens of thousands of years. At the present time, of course, POLARIS (alpha Ursa Minoris) just happens to be lined up in such a way as we see it superimposed over the distant line transcribed into space by the Earth's axis of rotation.

The tiny but beautiful constellation of Lyra represents the LYRE OF HERMES, fashioned from the shell of a tortoise, according to Greek legend; interestingly earlier Persian sages also denoted the star pattern as ZURAH LYRE, an association that survived middle eastern conflict and religious persecution all the way through the 15th century when the "harp of Phoenicia" shone brightly in the skies over Arabia.

In later Greek myth, the lyre fell into the hands of noted Orpheus who turn his stringed song into a magic spell of sorts that mesmerized all - including animals and insects - who fell upon its melody. It was with Hermes musical instrument that Orpheus was able to enter the famed "underworld" attempting (without success) to rescue his sweetie, Eurydice from the forces of darkness.

As you gaze at the beauty of such a small gathering of stars, it is quite easy to see Hermes' little harp suspended majestically among the stars; to me it is a wonderful reminder of the warmth, the smells and the wonderful innocent traditions of an impending childhood summer....
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
METEOR SHOWERS:  Observe when the moon does not interfere and attempt to observe AFTER midnight for most meteors to be seen!  July offers some of the best observing conditions for meteors....the skies are typically quite clear, the warm air of spring nights fill you with observing inspiration, yet there are only three meteor shows this month, all peaking after mid-month.  Fortunatelythis year the moon will not interfere with observations of any meteors since it will be in its waning phases after the first week of this month, and will pretty much absent from the sky for the last two weeks.
 
July 16 - Omicron Draconids - very high in northern skies, found in 1971 and few meteors seen since.  Slow-moving and the strong gibbous moon will be high in the sky when the showers supposedly should peak. This is a circumpolar meteor shower for the northern hemisphere, circling high in northern polar regions and will be up all night.
 
July 28 - Delta Aquarids (South) - rises about 8 p.m. and overhead about 2 a.m., the last quarter moon will not interfere with your observing of these meteors until AFTER midnight this year, when you should expect perhaps 8-15 per hour; face south and look for meteors overhead and begin your observing about 11 p.m. on the 27th and continue into the morning of the 28th.
July 30 - Capricornids - From comet Honda-Mrkos-Padjusakova, these are bright yellow meteors with many fireballs!  Favorable conditions until moonrise, about 3 hours before dawn; very low in SE sky at dark and south of overhead for mid-northern latitudes by midnight; best chance for the best meteors will be after about 1:30 a.m. local time when the dark side of the earth will be turning directly into the path of the meteor stream.
JULY 2005
IMPORTANT EVENTS TO REMEMBER:     * 
Jul 04 - Deep Impact, Comet Tempel 1 Impact/Flyby
Jul 04 - Earth At Aphelion (1.017 AU From Sun)
**Jul 01-03 - Island Star Party 2005, Vancouver Island, Canada
Jul 02 - Deep Impact, Trajectory Correction Maneuver #5 (TCM-5)
Jul 02 - Comet Giacobini-Zinner Perihelion (1.038 AU)
Jul 02 - Asteroid 66146 (1998 TU3) Near-Mercury Flyby (0.028 AU)
Jul 02 - Asteroid 6227 Alanrubin Closest Approach To Earth (1.692 AU)
Jul 02 - 15th Anniversary (1990), Giotto, Earth Flyby
Jul 02 - 20th Anniversary (1985), Giotto Launch (ESA's Comet Halley Mission)
Jul 03 - Deep Impact, Impactor Release
Jul 03 - Asteroid 2002 JQ97 Near-Earth Flyby (0.065 AU)
Jul 03 - Asteroid 3255 Tholen Closest Approach To Earth (2.014 AU)
Jul 03-08 - Conference: Island Universes - The Structure and Evolution of Disk Galaxies, Island of Terschelling, The Netherlands
Jul 04 - Deep Impact, Comet Tempel 1 Impact/Flyby
Jul 04 - Earth At Aphelion (1.017 AU ...only 94,512,036 miles.... From Sun)
Jul 05 - Comet Tempel 1 Perihelion (1.506 AU) - WATCH for details on "Deep Impact" as we crash into this celestial ghost!!
JULY 06 - NEW MOON - 07:02 am CDT - In Gemini 
Jul 06 - Asteroid 9777 Enterprise Closest Approach To Earth (0.824 AU)
Jul 06 - Asteroid 84225 Verish Closest Approach To Earth (1.698 AU)
**Jul 06-10 - 16th Annual Mason Dixon Star Party, near Dillsburg, Pennsylvania
**Jul 06-10 - Green Bank Star Quest, Green Bank, West Virginia
**Jul 06-10 - Mt. Bachelor Star Party 2005, Mt. Bachelor, Oregon
**Jul 06-11 - 2005 Shingletown Star Party, Shingletown Airport, California
Jul 07 - Jupiter Occults PPM 178840 (10.2 Magnitude Star)
Jul 07-10 - 7th Biennial History of Astronomy Workshop, South Bend, Illinois
**Jul 07-10 - Rocky Mountain Star Stare, Pike National Forest, Colorado
Jul 08 - Asteroid 10001 Palermo Closest Approach To Earth (1.475 AU)
**Jul 08-10 - RocheStar Fest, Ionia, New York
Jul 09 - Mercury Greatest Eastern Elongation (26 Degrees)
Jul 09 - Asteroid 2000 FY Near-Vesta Flyby (0.048 AU)
Jul 09 - Asteroid 25930 Spielberg Closest Approach To Earth (0.874 AU)
Jul 10 - NROL-20 (B-26) Titan 4B Launch (Final Launch of the Titan 4B)
Jul 10 - Asteroid 6030 Zolensky Closest Approach To Earth (2.144 AU)  
Jul 10-16 - Workshop on Stars with the B[e] Phenomenon, The Netherlands
Jul 10-17 - School on Single-Dish Radio Astronomy, Arecibo, Puerto Rico
Jul 11 - Asteroid 6469 Armstrong Closest Appoach To Earth (0.782 AU)
Jul 11 - Asteroid 2874 Jim Young Closest Approach To Earth (1.331 AU)
Jul 11 - Asteroid 51828 Ilanramon Closest Approach To Earth (2.103 AU)
Jul 11 - 15th Anniversary (1990), Gamma Observatory Launch (Soviet Union)
Jul 11-15 - Conference: Relativity, Matter and Cosmology, Bern, Switzerland
Jul 12 - Asteroid 3259 Brownlee Closest Approach To Earth (2.191 AU)
Jul 13 - Moon Occults Jupiter - see IOTA link on ASO "Links" for details
Jul 13 - Comet P/2000 G1 (LINEAR) Perihelion (0.998 AU)
Jul 13 - Asteroid 2000 QK25 Near-Mars Flyby (0.024 AU)
Jul 13 - Asteroid 4342 Freud Closest Approach To Earth (1.520 AU)
Jul 13 - Asteroid 82332 Las Vegas Closest Approach To Earth (1.633 AU)
JULY 14 - FIRST QUARTER MOON - 10:20 a.m CDT - In Virgo 
Jul 14 - Asteroid 2688 Halley Closest Approach To Earth (1.696 AU)
Jul 14 - Asteroid 10792 Ecuador Closest Approach To Earth (1.871 AU)
Jul 14 - 40th Anniversary (1965), Mariner 4, Mars Flyby
Jul 15 - TWINS-A Pegasus XL Launch
Jul 15 - 30th Anniversary (1975), Apollo 18 Launch (Apollo-Soyuz)
Jul 16 - 15th Anniversary (1990), Badr-A Launch (1st Pakistan Satellite)
Jul 16 - 40th Anniversary (1965), 1st Proton Rocket Launch (USSR)
Jul 17 - Asteroid 6318 Cronkite Closest Approach To Earth (2.397 AU)
Jul 17 - 30th Anniversary (1975), Apollo-Soyuz Handshake
Jul 18 - 40th Anniversary (1965), Zond 3 Launch (USSR Moon Flyby)
Jul 18-29 - IAGA 2005 Scientific Assembly, Toulouse, France
Jul 19 - Comet Shoemaker-Levy 7 Perihelion (1.707 AU)
Jul 19 - Asteroid 3192 A'Hearn Closest Approach To Earth (1.697 AU)
Jul 20 - Asteroid 2362 Mark Twain Closest Approach To Earth (0.972 AU)
Jul 20 - Asteroid 4783 Wasson Closest Approach To Earth (2.057 AU)
Jul 20 - 5th Anniversary (2000), Discovery of Jupiter Moon Callirrhoe
JULY 21 - FULL MOON - 06:00 am CDT - In Sagittarius
Jul 21 - Lecture: Comet Exploration and Research, Pasadena, California
Jul 22 - Asteroid 2000 AG6 Near-Earth Flyby (0.022 AU)
Jul 22 - Lecture: Comet Exploration and Research, Pasadena, California
Jul 22 - Asteroid 8837 London Closest Approach To Earth (1.154 AU)
Jul 22-23 - Comet Hale-Bopp 10-Year Celebration, Alamogordo, New Mexico
Jul 23 - 10th Anniversary (1995), Alan Hale's & Tom Bopp's Discovery of Comet Hale-Bopp
Jul 24 - Asteroid 4766 Malin Closest Approach To Earth (1.893 AU)
Jul 24 - 55th Anniversary (1950), 1st Rocket Launch from Cape Canaveral (Bumper/V-2 Rocket)
Jul 25 - Asteroid 14967 Madrid Closest Approach To Earth (1.364 AU)
Jul 25 - Asteroid 3001 Michelangelo Closest Approach To Earth (1.445 AU)
Jul 25 - Asteroid 16809 Galapagos Closest Approach To Earth (1.536 AU)
Jul 25 - Asteroid 1024 Hale Closest Approach To Earth (1.569 AU)
Jul 25 - Christoph Scheiner's 430th Birthday (1575)
Jul 25-29 - Michelson Interferometry Summer Workshop, Pasadena, California
Jul 25-29 - Conference: Instrumentation for Extremely Large Telescopes, Ringberg Castle, Bavaria
Jul 26 - Asteroid 54509 (2000 PH5) Near-Earth Flyby (0.036 AU)
Jul 26 - 100th Anniversary (1905), Paul Gotz's Discovery of Asteroid 568 Cheruskia
JULY 27 - LAST QUARTER MOON - 10:19 pm CDT - In Aries
Jul 27 - 100th Anniversary (1905), Johann Palisa's Discovery of Asteroid 569 Misa
**Jul 29-31 - 25th Annual Telescope Making Contest (CAFTA), St-Timothee, Canada
Jul 30 - Asteroid 5790 Nagasaki Closest Approach To Earth (1.302 AU)
Jul 30 - 100th Anniversary (1905), Max Wolf's Discovery of Asteroid 570 Kythera
Jul 30 - 395th Anniversary (1610), Galileo Observes Saturn's Rings
**Jul 30-Aug 07- 22nd Annual Mount Kobau Star Party, near Osoyoos, Canada
Jul 31-Aug 04 - SPIE Conference: Optics & Photonics 2005, San Diego, California
**Jul 31-Aug 05 - 12th Annual Nebraska Star Party, Merritt Reservoir, Nebraska
---------------------------------------------
Clear skies to all!
Dr. Clay
Arkansas Sky Observatory
 Observatory Hill Drive, Petit Jean Mt.
MPC/cbat Obs. H41 / Petit Jean Mountain
MPC/cbat Obs. H45 / Petit Jean Mountain South
MPC/cbat Obs. H43 / Conway
MPC/cbat Obs. H44 / Cascade Mountain
http://www.arksky.org/

 



 

Back to ASO

Copyright Arkansas Sky Observatory © 2002,2003,2004  [A.S.O.] All rights reserved. Revised: