LISTEN to this week’s Sky Report
This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the week ending Wednesday, August 29, 2012. Here is what’s happening in the skies of Southern California:
The small celestial triangle made of the planets Saturn, Mars, and the star Spica of Virgo the Maiden, should continue to attract attention this week. The triangle becomes visible low in the southwest as the sky darkens. Saturn appears to the upper right of Spica, and Mars appears to the upper left of that pair. Earth’s orbital motion makes the entire grouping appear lower in the sky on successive evenings. Mars, however, moves faster than Saturn around the sun, and also appears a little farther from Saturn and Spica each night. Saturn shifts only slightly to the east compared to Spica during the course of the week. By the 29th you will need to look before 9:00 p.m. to see all three objects.
This is an excellent week to observe the moon, whose phase waxes from crescent on Wednesday the 22nd, to first quarter on Friday the 24th, and will be gibbous after that. The time of moonset this week advances from 10:36 p.m. on the 22nd, to 4:29 a.m. on the 29th. The moon will be featured in Griffith Observatory’s public telescopes.
The brilliant planet Jupiter is in Taurus the Bull and is noticeable in the east by 1:00 a.m. At dawn, Jupiter is high in the southeast.
The brightest planet, Venus, rises in the east-northeast at 2:50 a.m. Venus is between Jupiter and the eastern horizon at dawn.
The International Space Station will cross the sky of Los Angeles on the evening of Sunday, August 26. The brilliant satellite will first appear rising over the northwest horizon at 8:43 p.m., P.D.T. and will pass through the Big Dipper. It will appear at its highest, 75 degrees above the northeast horizon, at 8:46 p.m., then it will vanish into earth’s shadow less than a minute later while 48 degrees high in the east-southeast.
An Atlas 5 rocket launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, mentioned in the last Sky Report, has been delayed until at least September 6. More details about viewing possibilities from southern California will be given when available.
Free views of the sun during the day and of the moon, planets, and other celestial objects at night, are available to the public in clear weather six days a week (Tuesday-Sunday) through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for our schedule. The next Griffith Observatory public star party, hosted by Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society is scheduled for Saturday, August 25.
From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.