USPS Stargazer

USPS Star Calendar for 1-7 July 24 June 2012

1 Jul    Rising 2 hours before sunset, the moon and Antares will be low in the south after sunset with Antares 1 fist-width to the moon’s right. More than 90 percent of the moon’s surface is illuminated. The moon is at perigee, 56.81 Earth-radii (362,000 kilometers) away from the earth. Reaching its greatest elongation, 25.7 degrees east of the sun, Mercury is low in the west at nightfall, setting 1½ hours after the sun. With a clear view of the western horizon, you can see it easily as the sky darkens.

2 Jul    Rising an hour before sunset, the moon sits above the dome of the Teapot constellation, Sagittarius, late tonight.

5 Jul    Earth reaches aphelion, its farthest distance from the sun, at 0400 UT. We are almost 5 million kilometers (more than 3 million miles) farther from the sun than at perihelion on 3 Jan.

6 Jul    In the southwest before dawn, the moon is between Altair, 3 fist-widths to the upper right, and Fomalhaut, the same distance to the lower left.

7 Jul    Jupiter, Venus and Aldebaran form a nearly vertical line before dawn, with Jupiter at the top, Venus 2 finger-widths below and Aldebaran another ½ finger-width beyond.