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Celestial Events in July 2020- Great month for planets!
🕑 Added 2020-07-02 19:07:21 +0000 UTCHere's a quick outline of interesting things happening in the sky this month. This will give you an idea of some of the unique things I will be trying to capture! This will be based on Pacific Time- so keep in mind the date and time may be different for your respective location. The highlight will be the Saturn and Jupiter Opposition, as they will be easy to view and at their largest this month.
Saturday July 4th: Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse
Our moon will be perfectly opposite the sun- allowing it to pass through the outermost part of Earth's shadow, known as the penumbra. This will cause the moon to appear to darken on one side, and if you observe it for long enough you can see the shadow appear to cross the surface. While not as dramatic as a partial or total eclipse, the penumbral eclipse will still offer a unique view of our moon. It will start shortly after moonrise here on the West coast (around 9:45 Pacific time) and last nearly 3 hours. I plan to stay up shooting this event, and will hopefully capture a good image.
Friday, July 10th: Venus at maximum brightness
If you are up before dawn, you can see a bright shining star in the Eastern sky. That is Venus, known as the "morning star". It is reflecting the most possible light back to us at this time, so will appear brightest this morning as it swings back to greatest Western elongation. If you look at it through a telescope, it will appear as a crescent around 30% illuminated.
Tuesday, July 14th: Jupiter at opposition
Much like the full moon, Jupiter is brightest when on the exact opposite position of the sun in the night sky, known as opposition. This is when Earth's and Jupiter's orbits bring them the closest together, which happens roughly once a year. You will see Jupiter rise in the East at sunset, looking like a brightly shining star, and reaching high overhead in the middle of the evening, the best conditions possible for viewing and imaging the gas giant. I will spend a lot of time shooting the planet during this time.
Monday, July 20th: New Moon
The best time to do any deep sky viewing and imaging, the new moon happens when the Moon passes between the sun and the Earth. With the shaded sky facing Earth, the moon no longer pollutes our skies with reflected sunlight. Great time to get away from city lights and do some stargazing!
Monday, July 20th: Saturn at Opposition
Just like Jupiter, Saturn reaches opposition this month. It will rise just as the sun sets, and be in the sky at it's closest approach for the entire night. Great time to view and photograph the ringed planet.
Wednesday, July 22nd: Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation
If you are up before dawn this day, you might catch a glimpse of Mercury. It will look like a small star low in the Eastern Sky. Not nearly as bright or as high as venus, but this is the best possible time to view Mercury since it is always so close to the sun from our vantage point. Viewing it through a telescope on this day will appear to be 50% illuminated.
Tuesday, July 28th: Southern Delta Aquariids Meteor shower (peak)
This is actually happening for about a week, but peaks on the 28th. The Earth is passing through a debris field left by a comet, and you will see more shooting stars than usual, especially if you wait until after the moon sets. The shower will radiate from Aquarius.
Comments
This sounds like a great month 🤩
