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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through August 1st, 2018. Here’s what’s happening in the skies of southern California.
The planet Mars, in the constellation Capricornus the Sea Goat, reaches opposition on the night of the 26th, Pacific Time. This means that Mars will be opposite the sun in the sky and visible all night. The brilliant orange planet, now the second brightest, after Venus, is eye catching as it crosses the southern sky from dusk to dawn. Mars is closest to the Earth on the night of Monday the 30th. The time that Mars is closest to the Earth is 12:45 a.m., PDT. This also happens to be the time that Mars is positioned best for observing from Griffith Observatory because it then crosses the meridian 30 degrees above the southern horizon. The centers of Earth and Mars are separated by 35.8 million miles, the closest that they have been since 2003, when their distance was 34.6 million miles (the minimum possible), and the closest until 2035.
After sunset, the planet Venus is the silvery object in the western sky. At the same time, Jupiter, now the third brightest, planet gleams in the southern sky, surrounded by the background stars of the constellation Libra the Scales. Saturn, dimmer than Jupiter but still as easy to see as a bright star is in the southeast, to the lower left of Saturn. Around sunset, Mars clears the east-southeast horizon, to the lower left of Saturn. Venus sets at about 10:00 p.m., followed at 12:30 a.m. by Jupiter, and at 3:40 a.m. by Saturn. Mars, as mentioned before, is visible nearly all night, rising at sunset, and setting at sunrise.
The moon changes from waxing gibbous to full on the 27th, and it is waning gibbous on the following nights through August 1st. The full moon will pass through Earth’s shadow, resulting in a lunar eclipse. The eclipse is visible from Australia, much of Asia, Europe, Africa, and a portion of South America. None of it is visible from North America. With its total phase lasting 1 hour, 43 minutes, this is the longest lunar eclipse of the twenty first century. The eclipse follows the opposition of Mars by about 15 hours. As a result, the eclipsed moon and Mars will appear only a few degrees from each other in the sky. At Los Angeles, shortly after moonrise on the 27th, Mars will appear about seven degrees south of the full moon.
Free views of the Sun during the day and of the moon and planets 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. Weather permitting, a special Mars viewing event on the grounds of Griffith Observatory and hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, will take place on Monday, July 30, beginning at 10:00 p.m. Please see our Website for full details.
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From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.