LISTEN to this week’s Sky Report
This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through June 17, 2015. Here’s what’s happening in the skies of southern California.
The brightest planet, Venus, and the second brightest planet, Jupiter, are eye-catching in the western sky after sunset. Night by night through the 17th, the gap between the planets shrinks from 13 degrees to 8 degrees as they move toward a spectacular conjunction on June 30.
Through a telescope, Venus displays a crescent phase. The crescent wanes from 47 percent illuminated on the 10th to 43 percent illuminated on the 17th. The planet’s disk grows from 25 to 27 arcseconds wide over the same period. Venus sets in the west-northwest at 11:07 p.m.
Telescope users on the west coast will have a chance to see Jupiter’s large oval storm, the Great Red Spot on the evenings of the 10th, 12th, 15th, and 17th. Jupiter follows Venus below the horizon at about 11:30 p.m.
The ringed planet, Saturn, in Libra the Scales, appears like a bright golden star above the southeast horizon as darkness falls. The planet is highest and due south at about 11:15 p.m., and sets in the west-southwest at 4:30 a.m. A telescope will show the north face of Saturn’s magnificent ring system, and several of the planet’s moons. Saturn, as well as Venus and Jupiter are all currently featured through Griffith Observatory’s public telescopes.
The waning crescent moon is visible at dawn through the 15th. Between the 10th and 15th, moonrise advances from 1:33 a.m. to 5:09 a.m. After new moon on the morning of the 16th, the moon returns to the sky as a waxing crescent after sunset on the 17th.
The International Space Station will make a brief appearance in the skies of Los Angeles on Tuesday the 16th. The ISS will appear over the north-northwest horizon at 10:22 p.m. It may grow to be as bright as Jupiter just before it vanishes when it reaches 46 degrees high at 10:25 p.m.
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 from Tuesday through Sunday before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for the 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, June 20.
Follow the Sky Report on Twitter for updates of astronomy and space-related events.
From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com