STAR GAZER
THE INTERNATIONAL EDITION
Lorain County JVS NASA CORE / 15181 Route 58 South / 440/775-1400 / FAX 440/775-1460 / nasaco@leeca.org / http://core.nasa.gov
HORKHEIMER: Greetings, greetings fellow star gazers.
If you want to see something nifty planetwise mark Wednesday and
Thursday July 9th and 10th just after sunset on your calendar
as the nights the red planet Mars will be at its closest visually
to the ringed planet Saturn until April 3rd, 2022. Plus if you
start watching this weekend you'll be able to watch the two of
them as they come closer to each other night after night.
O.K., we've got our skies set up for this weekend Saturday July 5th just after dark around 9:30 p.m. facing due west where you'll see an exquisite 3 day old crescent Moon which will look like a dark full Moon nestled within the crescent. Then if you draw a line straight up and to its left that line will zip through three celestial objects, the first of which is the brightest star of Leo the Lion, Regulus. The second of which is tiny 4,000 mile wide orange-gold Mars. Followed by the 75,000 mile wide ringed planet Saturn, which just begs you to pick up a small telescope and look at it.
Try to remember how far apart each object is from each other, then go out 24 hours later, Sunday July 6th at 9:30 and you'll notice that the Moon has gotten bigger and has moved up and to the side of Mars and Saturn. But you'll also notice that Mars and Saturn are a little bit closer and that they are just a little bit farther away from Regulus. On the next night Monday July 7th at 9:30 the Moon will be much bigger and way off to the side of these three objects. And Mars and Saturn will be even closer to each other but much farther away from Regulus. On Tuesday July 8th the Moon will be much bigger and much farther away and Mars and Saturn will be much closer and even farther away from Regulus. But then ta da, the real fun begins because on Wednesday July 9th and Thursday July 10th Mars and Saturn will be at their very closest to each other, less than 3/4 of a degree apart! And since a full Moon is only 1/2 a degree wide, this means we could fit only 1 1/2 full Moons between them. Wow! Don't miss this please. And if you have a small telescope or a pair of binoculars I beg you to use them.
Once again start your watch this weekend on Saturday July 5th, Sunday July 6th, Monday July 7th, Tuesday July 8th and ta da! Wednesday and Thursday July 9th and 10th a super close meeting between Mars and Saturn you'll not see again 2022! But even though they look close to each other nothing could be farther from the truth, because as you gaze up at them on Wednesday and Thursday nights, Mars will be only 202 million miles away while Saturn will be 4 1/2 times farther from us, a whopping 929 million miles away! So get thee out for a super sight you'll not see for 14 more years. Is planet gazing fun or what? Keep looking up!
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Horkheimer: On July 9th and 10th Mars and Saturn will be at their closest until 2022. On Saturday the 5th just after dark face west and you'll see 4,000 mile wide Mars just below 75,000 mile wide Saturn. On Sunday they'll be a bit closer to each other and on Monday closer still. On Tuesday much closer, but ta da! on Wednesday and Thursday the 9th and 10th they'll be at their very closest, less than 1 degree apart. So close you could just fit 1 and 1/2 full Moons between them. Even more fun with a pair of binoculars watch them each night as they zero in on each other. It's fascinating and it's fun and you'll not see them this close together again for 14 years. Keep looking up!
How did you like this episode?
Please give us your comments. (Click
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* This week's Sky At A Glance
and Planet Roundup from Sky & Telescope.Starry Night Deluxe was used to produce this episode
of Star Gazerj
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