Download Summer 2008 Astronomical Calendar

Summer 2008 Astronomical Calendar
Buhl Planetarium & Observatory
Eastern Standard Time
JUNE
3
7
8
9
10
18
20
20 26
30 Tue
Sat
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Fri
Fri
Thu
Mon
New Moon - 3:23 PM
Moon, 1 degree SW of Mars in the West, at dusk
Saturn, 5 degrees to upper left of Moon in the WSW, at dusk
Venus in conjunction with the Sun
First Quarter Moon - 11:02 AM
l Full Moon - 1:30 PM - “Thunder Moon”
Moon 4 degrees below Jupiter in the SSW - AM
Summer Solstice - 7:59 PM
Last Quarter Moon - 8:10 AM
Moon occults Pleiades star cluster in the ENE - AM
JULY
1
1
2
6
9
10
10
16
18
25
Tue Mercury at greatest elongation in the ENE – AM
Tue
Moon, 7 degrees to upper left of Mercury in the ENE - AM
Wed
New Moon - 10:19 PM
Sun
Moon, Mars, and Saturn all within 5 degrees in the W, at dusk
Wed Jupiter at opposition – visible all night
Thu
Mars within one degree of Saturn in the West - PM
Thu
First Quarter Moon - 12:34 AM
Wed
Moon, 6 degrees to the right of Jupiter in the SE, at dusk
Fri
l Full Moon - 3:59 AM - “Grain Moon”
Fri
Last Quarter Moon - 2:42 PM
AUGUST
1
2
3
8
12
14
16
23
30
Fri
New Moon - 6:13 AM
Sat
Saturn, 3 degrees above Moon in the West, at dusk
Sun
Moon, 4 degrees below Mars in the West, at dusk
Fri
First Quarter Moon - 4:20 PM
Tue
Perseid Meteor shower peaks – 1:30 AM and dawn
Thu
Mercury, Venus, Saturn form a triangle in West at dusk
Sat l Full Moon - 5:17 PM - “Fruit Moon”
Sat
Last Quarter Moon - 7:50 PM
Sat
New Moon - 3:58 PM
Rooftop Observatory–Friday and Saturday Evening Sessions
Join experienced stargazers above the city lights in a tour of the night sky. Sessions are $1 per person. No reservations are needed. Weather permitting.
Call 412.237.3327 the night of the session for the latest information.
www.CarnegieScienceCenter.org | One Allegheny Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15212 | Across from Heinz Field | 412.237.3400
Sky Happenings
These planets are visible in the sky!
June
Morning
Evening
Mercury and Jupiter
Mars and Saturn
July
Morning
Evening
Mercury
Jupiter, Mars and Saturn
August
Evening
Jupiter, Mars and Saturn
June 20: Summer Solstice
At 8:00 PM on June 20, the Sun reaches the June
solstice, the official start of summer in the Northern
hemisphere and the onset of winter in the Southern
hemisphere.
The word solstice comes to us from the Romans and
means “sun stop.” The Sun seems to have been climbing
higher in our skies for the past six months. That means it
takes longer to cross the sky and we get more daylight. On
June 20, the Sun reaches the end of its upward climb and
“stops.” Days are now as long as they can get. From June
20 forward, the sun begins to get lower in sky each day.
That means each day actually will be getting a little shorter
and we’ll be headed back toward winter.
Science Fact
With 4 planet-sized moons and 59 smaller
moons, Jupiter forms a kind of miniature
solar system. Jupiter resembles a star in
composition. In fact, if it had been about
eighty times more massive, Jupiter would
have become a star rather than a planet.
JULY 9: Jupiter Dazzles this Summer
The king of the planets reigns supreme in the night sky this
summer. On July 9, when Jupiter goes into opposition with
the Sun, the Jovian giant will rise around sunset, reach its
highest point in the south around midnight, and set around
sunrise. The pale peach colored Jupiter will also shine at
a brilliant magnitude –2.7. Even though Earth and Jupiter
will be as close as they will get to each other all year,
it’s not the distance between the two worlds that makes
Jupiter so bright. Jupiter’s size and brightly reflective
clouds make it dazzle. Jupiter is 11 times as wide as the
Earth, with about 121 times more surface area.
The best time to view Jupiter through a telescope is
around midnight in July. While you are viewing Jupiter’s
cloud tops, don’t forget to view the planet’s four large
moons discovered by Galileo in 1610. Scientists are
most interested in these Galilean satellites. Europa may
have an ocean under its frozen surface. Calisto’s craterpocked landscape may be the oldest in the solar system.
Ganymede is the solar system’s largest moon, bigger than
Mercury. And little Io has more volcanoes than anywhere
else in the solar system.
August 12: Perseid Meteor Shower
The Perseid meteor shower comes every year, beginning in
late July and stretching into August. Stargazers outdoors
at the right time can see colorful fireballs, occasional
outbursts and, almost always, long hours of gracefully
streaking meteors.
At this time of year we are treated to a shower of “shooting
stars.” The showers result from a cloud of particles in
orbit around the Sun left over from a passing comet. The
Perseid meteor shower comes from Comet Swift-Tuttle.
When the Earth passes through this cloud of particles in
its yearly trip around the Sun, tiny bits of comet dust hit
Earth’s atmosphere traveling at a speed of 132,000 mph. At
that speed, even a tiny dust particle will make a vivid streak
of light– a meteor– when it disintegrates. This year, peak
activity will occur in the predawn hours of August 12.
Best viewing is between 1:30 AM and dawn, after the
gibbous moon has set.
www.CarnegieScienceCenter.org | One Allegheny Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15212 | Across from Heinz Field | 412.237.3400