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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through August 7th, 2020. Here’s what’s happening in the skies of southern California.
This week is ideal for seeing the five brightest planets over the course of the evening, from dusk to dawn. We start after sunset when the largest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, gleam brilliantly in the southeast.
Jupiter, on the right, is the brightest of the pair. Saturn trails Jupiter by five degrees all night long as together they arc westward through the southern sky. They are best observed through a telescope at 11:30 p.m. when they are at their highest in the sky as they cross the meridian in the south.
Ordinary binoculars may be used to glimpse Jupiter’s four largest moons. A larger telescope may show the striped patterns of Jupiter’s clouds, and occasional views of its colorful and giant oval storm, the Great Red Spot. The Great Red Spot will be visible to observers in the Pacific Time Zone at 10:00 p.m. on August 1st, 4th, and 6th.
A telescope may also let you observe the spectacular ring system of Saturn. Saturn’s largest moons come in a greater variety of sizes that Jupiter’s, so how many you may see depends on how large a telescope is used. Even a 2-inch telescope may be able to show Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
While Jupiter and Saturn are at their highest, look east to see the fiery glow of the planet Mars as it ascends above the eastern horizon. Mars is highest at dawn, with it is 60 degrees high in the south. A well-adjusted telescope at high magnification may show the dusky markings of the planet, as well as the white gleam of its South Polar Cap. It is the southern summer of Mars, and the Cap, made largely of frozen carbon dioxide, is now rapidly turning to gas, or sublimating. As a result, night-by-night observations may allow you to see the seasonal shrinking of the cap.
As dawn brightens, Jupiter and Saturn sink below the horizon in the west-southwest, and the brightest planet, Venus, blazes in the east-northeast. Venus appears just barely crescent through a telescope, and next week it will appear half-lit.
At 5:30 a.m. look to the lower left of Venus and most of the way to the horizon, for the glimmer of the planet closest to the sun, Mercury. Mercury is also the smallest of the planets. About all it has to offer through a telescope is a change of phases, but this week all high magnification will show is the gibbous phase of Mercury.
The moon changes from waxing to waning gibbous, and it is full on the 3rd when it may be seen all night. The moon is beneath the midpoint of Jupiter and Saturn on the night of the 1st. By the 7th, the moon will be positioned ¾ the distance between Saturn and Mars.
Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) is now headed to the distant reaches of the solar system, not to return for about 6,800 years. It may still be bright enough to find with binoculars and small telescopes after the moon clears out of the evening sky beginning on August 5th, when moonrise occurs at 9:30 p.m., shortly after darkness falls. The comet will be in the southwest sky, in the faint constellation Coma Berenices, Bernice’s Hair.
Charts that can help you to locate fading comet NEOWISE and the five bright planets, and other interesting sky information, may be found on Griffith Observatory’s “What’s in the Sky?” webpage.
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.