CURRENT ISSUE

SUBSCRIBE

CONTACT US

ADVERTISING

SEARCH

BACK ISSUES

CONTRIBUTORS'
GUIDELINES

THIS WEEK IN
CALIFORNIA WILD

Skyguide

July - September 2000

July 1 New Moon. Three eclipses happen this month (the most possible). Today's partial solar eclipse is visible only from the extreme southeast Pacific Ocean.

July 16 Full Moon, known as the "Crane Moon" to the Choctaw, the "Killer Whale Moon" to the Haida, and the "Moon of the Giant Cactus" to the Pima. The month's second eclipse, a total lunar eclipse will be observable in its entirety from Japan, Indonesia, and Australia. Before dawn on the 16th, skywatchers on the West Coast of the U.S. will see the first half, and observers in the Central U.S. may see the eclipse start at moonset.

July 30 New Moon. For the month's third eclipse, the Moon again comes between Earth and the Sun. This time, its shadow grazes the Earth's North Pole, producing a partial solar eclipse visible from northern Alaska, and Canada's North west Territories. Sunset on July 31 features a thin, day-old crescent Moon low in the west.

August 12 Peak of the Perseid meteor shower, averaging about 50 meteors per hour. One of six meteor showers that occur in August, this is usually one of the better showers of the year. However, the light of a nearly Full Moon will interfere.

August 14 Full Moon, known to the Cheyenne as "Time When the Cherries are Ripe" and to the Tlingit as the "Moon When All Kinds of Animals Prepare Their Dens."

August 29 New Moon at 3:20 a.m. pdt. About a half-hour after sunset, look carefully for a razor-thin, 17-hour-old crescent Moon very low in the west, with Venus slightly above and to the left. Binoculars may help.

September 13 Full Moon. The Choctaw called this the "Mulberry Moon" and the Micmac knew it as the "Moose-Calling Moon." As the nearest Full Moon to the Autumnal Equinox, this also became known as the "Harvest Moon." Some believe that this is the only Full Moon that looks large and richly golden when it rises, but the rising Full Moon of every month looks equally grand.

September 22 Autumnal Equinox for the Northern Hemisphere at 10:27 a.m. pdt. The Sun rises due east and sets due west. Day and night are theoretically of equal length. South of the equator, this day is the Spring Equinox.

September 27 New Moon at 12:53 p.m. pdt. The sighting of the next crescent Moon at sunset marks the start of Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the Jewish year 5761. Tonight's Moon is still too close to the Sun to be seen, so the first crescent won't be visible until September 28.

The Planets

Mercury
This little planet's constant game of hide-and-seek brings it briefly out of the Sun's glow at the end of July, when it can be seen low in the east before dawn. Mercury lingers in the morning twilight until about mid-August. Look with binoculars for Mercury and Mars less than 1/10 of a degree apart, low in the east just before dawn on August 10 (Mercury is the brighter of the two because Mars is on the far side of the Sun). By mid-September, Mercury is visible in the west after sunset, emerging from the Sun's glow and gradually approaching Venus. The crescent Moon passes by on the morning of July 29.

Venus
Venus starts this quarter emerging from the glow of the setting Sun, but it doesn't get very high because the path of the evening planet is so low to the south during this time of the year. Binocular challenge: Venus and the crescent Moon are about a degree apart on the evening of July 31, but they set less than an hour after sunset. The waxing crescent Moon passes by again on the evenings of August 30 and September 29.

Mars
Having passed conjunction with the Sun on July 1, Mars is hidden in the Sun's glow until mid-August, when it can be seen in the east before dawn, gradually moving higher into the morning sky. Though visible to the naked eye, Mars, still on the other side of the Sun, is at its faintest. The waning crescent Moon passes close by on the mornings of July 30 (use binoculars), more distantly on August 27 and 28, and closely again on the morning of September 25.

Jupiter
Jupiter rises in the east about two to three hours before the Sun in July, and—with Saturn still lingering close-by—is an impressive predawn sight against the stars of Taurus. Having just passed conjunction with the ringed planet, watch Jupiter slowly pull away as they gradually climb higher into the morning sky. By September, Jupiter will rise at about midnight and will be located high in the south at dawn. The waning Moon sweeps by on the morning of July 26, forming a beautiful triangle with Saturn, with the bright reddish star Aldebaran and the Pleiades star cluster nearby.

Saturn
Since Saturn is still located near Jupiter against the stars of Taurus, it shares nearly the same highlights given for Jupiter, with the last quarter Moon passing by on July 26, August 22, and September 18 and 19.

Messier's List

In 1784, French Astronomer Charles Messier compiled and published a list of 103 fuzzy, non-stellar objects that he warned fellow astronomers to avoid, particularly if they were looking for comets. Messier feared that these objects might be confused for comets and misidentified. Though he considered them a distraction and a waste of time, the objects on the Messier Catalog are now recognized as some of the most beautiful and worthwhile spectacles for observers with telescopes. Summer skies are graced by M-8 (the Lagoon Nebula) and M-20 (the Trifid Nebula), M-4 and M-5 (two beautiful globular star clusters), M-57 (the Ring Nebula), and M-51 (the Whirlpool Galaxy), among many others visible under dark skies.

Bing F. Quock is Assistant Chairman of the Morrison Planetarium.

Summer 2000

Vol. 53:3