USPS Star Calendar for 4-10 August 28 July 2013
Posted by amedalen in August 2013.Tags: Antares, Arcturus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, new moon, Sagittarius, Saturn, Scorpion, Spica, Venus
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4 Aug This morning, the moon slips past both Jupiter and Mars, now 3 finger-widths to the moon’s upper left. Magnitude –0.6 Mercury is 1 fist-width to Mars’ lower left. The moon is less than 10 percent illuminated.
5 Aug Spotting a sliver of moon through your binoculars will be harder this morning as the moon rises only an hour before the sun. Less than 5 percent of the moon is illuminated.
6 Aug New moon at 2151 UT
7 Aug The moon sets within a few minutes of the sun, giving us dark evening skies for the next few evenings. Beginning at dusk, look for magnitude –4.0 Venus near the western horizon. Next, look for magnitude 0.2 Arcturus high to the upper left, more than 4 fist-widths from Venus. Magnitude 0.7 Saturn is to Arcturus’ lower left, and magnitude 1.2 Spica is to Saturn’s lower right.
8 Aug The Scorpion hugs the southern horizon tonight. Magnitude 1.1 Antares is the constellation’s brightest star. The head and claws extend to the right, and the tail curls to the lower left. Sagittarius is to the left of the tail.
9 Aug The sun sets an hour before the moon tonight. As the sky darkens, use your binoculars to look for magnitude –4.0 Venus 3 finger-widths to the moon’s upper right. Only 5 percent of the moon’s surface is illuminated.
10 Aug Farther to the left of Venus, the moon sets more than an hour and a half after the sun.
USPS Star Calendar for 21-27 July 14 July 2013
Posted by amedalen in July 2013.Tags: Alpheratz, Andromeda, Chained Princess, Fomalhaut, full moon, Jupiter, Mars, perigee, Regulus, Venus
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21 Jul Magnitude –3.9 Venus passes within ½ finger-width of magnitude 1.3 Regulus tonight. Low in the west at twilight, the stars set 1½ hours after the sun. The moon is at perigee, 56.2 Earth-radii away (222,000 miles) away.
22 Jul Low in the east before dawn, magnitude 1.6 Mars passes less than 1 degree from magnitude 1.9 Jupiter. Look quickly, because the sun rises less than 2 hours after the planets, which will soon be lost in the glare. Full moon at 1815 UT
23 Jul Only a few hours past full, the moon is low in the west before dawn and sets an hour after sunrise. Tonight it rises a half hour after sunset.
25 Jul The moon rises a couple of hours after sunset. Three days past full, it’s about 90 percent illuminated.
26 Jul Before dawn, the bright star 3 fist-widths below the moon in the southwest is magnitude 1.3 Fomalhaut. The same distance above the moon sits magnitude 2.1 Alpheratz in the constellation Andromeda, the Chained Princess, daughter of Cassiopeia and Cepheus.
USPS Star Calendar for 14-20 July 7 July 2013
Posted by amedalen in July 2013.Tags: Antares, Arcturus, Big Dipper, Boötes, first-quarter moon, gibbous moon, Herdsman, Saturn, Scorpion, Scorpius, Spica
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14 Jul Low in the southwest at dusk, the bright star 4 fist-widths above the waxing crescent moon is magnitude 0.2 Arcturus in the constellation Boötes, the Herdsman. The Big Dipper is far to the moon’s upper right. Follow the arc of the dipper’s handle to Arcturus, and continue on until you see magnitude 1.2 Spica.
15 Jul Tonight the moon passes within ½ finger-width of magnitude 1.2 Spica. Viewers in Hawaii will see the moon occult Spica.
16 Jul Magnitude 0.6 Saturn is 2 finger-widths to the moon’s upper right tonight. First-quarter moon at 0318 UT
18 Jul The moon is in the head of Scorpius, the Scorpion, this evening. Magnitude 1.1 Antares, the Heart of the Scorpion, is 3 finger-widths to the lower left.
19 Jul The waxing gibbous moon rises 3 hours before sunset and is low in the south as the sun sinks below the western horizon. Traveling across the night sky, the moon sets a little more than two hours before sunrise tomorrow. More than 80 percent of the moon’s surface is illuminated.
