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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through July 2nd, 2020. Here’s what’s happening in the skies of southern California.
The moon’s phase waxes from crescent to first quarter on the night of the 27th. On the following nights, it is gibbous before reaching full on July 4th. From one night to the next, the time of moonset advances another 30 minutes, and as a result, moonset changes from 11:56 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. between June 25 and July 2nd.
The moon appears close to the bright star Spica, in the constellation Virgo the Maiden, on the 28th and 29th. It is close to the orange star Antares in Scorpius the Scorpion on July 1st and 2nd.
The outer planets, Jupiter and Saturn, form a brilliant pair of objects that should grab your attention by the time they become easy to find in the southeast sky, by about 11:00 p.m. Saturn is about six degrees to the east (or left) of brighter Jupiter. They are at their highest when they cross the meridian in the south at 2 a.m. By dawn they occupy the southwest sky.
A telescope may be used to examine Saturn’s incredible rings. Use it also to look for Jupiter’s colorful Great Red Spot at 2:00 a.m. on June 26th, 29th, and July 1st, when the spot will appear on the side of the cloud- banded planet then facing Los Angeles
Orange-hued planet Mars appears in the southeast at 2:00 a.m. It follows a westward arc somewhat higher than those taken through the sky by Jupiter and Saturn. Mars reaches the south-southeast at the start of dawn.
Look for the brightest planet, Venus, at 4:30 a.m., shortly after it rises in the east-northeast. Use binoculars to get a beautiful view of the planet surrounded by the stars of the Hyades, the V-shaped pattern of stars that represents the face of the constellation Taurus the Bull. Most of the Hyades are members of an open star cluster, an actual swarm of stars in our Milky Way Galaxy, that are located about 150 light years away. The bright orange star Aldebaran, a fiery eye of the imaginary Bull, is not part of the cluster, but it is a star in the foreground, 67 light-years from us. Binoculars may be enough to observe the crescent phase of Venus.
Be on the lookout for bright meteors belonging to the June Boӧtid meteor shower, the source of occasional bright, slow-moving meteors that may be seen at any time throughout the night, between June 25th and July 1st. The showers’ radiant in the constellation Boӧtes the Bear-Driver ̶ the point in the sky from which the Boӧtids seem to stream ̶ starts each evening located nearly overhead, before swinging to the northwest over the course of the short summer night. These are fragments shed by the comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke. The comet was first seen in 1819 and was most recently observed in 2015. It currently orbits the sun every 6.37 years.
The International Space Station will rival the brilliance of Venus during its three upcoming morning passes high over Los Angeles. On Friday the 26th, look for it between 5:10 and 5:17 a.m. as it moves from the west-southwest horizon to the northeast horizon. The ISS is 48 degrees high in the northwest at 5:14 a.m. On the next morning, Saturday the 27th, the space station becomes visible when it moves into sunlight, already 29 degrees high in the southwest, at 4:24 a.m. It then passes within a few degrees of the zenith, the point directly overhead, at 4:26 a.m., before descending to the northeast horizon at 4:29 a.m. On Tuesday the 30th, the ISS will suddenly become visible as it reaches sunlight at an elevation 50 degrees above the north-northwest horizon at 3:39 a.m., and then descends to the northeast horizon over the following three minutes.
Because of measures in place that are intended to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 Corona virus, Griffith Observatory remains closed until further notice. Consequently, all public telescopes are closed, and all public events have been cancelled. Please check the Griffith Observatory homepage for current information and continued updates of the situation.
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From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook, and I can be reached at Anthony.Cook@lacity.org.