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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report for the week ending Wednesday, July 24, 2013. Here is what’s happening in the skies of Southern California:
The planet Venus is the brilliant object visible in the west-northwest from dusk until the planet sets at about 9:40 p.m. This week, Venus is close to Leo the Lion’s brightest star, Regulus. Venus is just over one degree north of Regulus on Sunday the 21st.
The ringed planet Saturn, in Virgo the Maiden, is at its highest in the south-southwest during evening twilight. Saturn sets in the west-southwest at 12:40 a.m. On Friday, July 19, NASA’s Cassini orbiter will take a picture from Saturn that will show Saturn and its rings in the foreground with the earth 898 million miles away in the background. It turns out that you can be in this picture if you are outside at the right time! According to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, west coast residents will want to be outside on Friday afternoon, between 2:27 p.m. and 2:42 p.m., P.D.T. Cassini is programmed to record the image 80 minutes later when the light from Earth arrives at Saturn. Visitors to Griffith Observatory on the 19th will be directed to the front lawn and advised to face the correct spot just above the eastern horizon at the correct time for the interplanetary picture session. Later, Saturn will be shown through the Observatory telescopes shortly after sunset. Even Cassini’s powerful camera is unable to resolve the crescent phase of the earth, but when the picture is eventually processed and released, it will be fun to remember that you were waving from the star-like dot just as the image was taken. Full information about the event is on the Observatory’s Do the Saturn Wave page.
The moon is in waxing gibbous phase until it reaches full on the 22nd. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the traditional name for the full moon in July is the Full Thunder Moon. Following this, the moon displays its waning gibbous phase. Saturday, July 20, will mark the 44th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and the first steps of humans onto another world.
Planets Jupiter and Mars appear close to each other in Gemini the twins at dawn. They are best seen at 5:15 a.m. when they are about 12 degrees above the east-northeast horizon. They appear closest together on Monday the 22nd, when orange Mars is less than a degree north of brilliant, cream-yellow Jupiter.
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 through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes Tuesday-Sunday before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for our schedule. The next public star party on the grounds of Griffith Observatory, hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, will take place on Saturday, August 17.
From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.