Skynotes July 2009

Month Highlights

This month marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landings. On the 21st, at 12:39pm (AEST), Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the Moon. In the three years that followed a total of 12 men had the adventure of a lifetime, leaving Earth behind and experiencing life on another world. NASA's Constellation Program is working towards returning mankind to space, venturing to the Moon by 2020 and then on to Mars. The program is sure to inspire a new generation of space followers.

Winter School Holidays

Scienceworks is opened daily from 10am – 4:30pm. During the school holidays (27th June – 12th July) planetarium session times are:

11am & 1pm: Tycho to the Moon

12pm, 2pm & 3pm: Search for Life: Are we alone?

See the Melbourne Planetarium's What's On listing for more details.

Planetarium Event

Discover the Night Sky – August 2009
The Melbourne Planetarium at Scienceworks presents its popular after-dark sessions, Thursday evenings from 6 to 27 August at 7pm. All evenings include complementary wine and cheese, the opportunity to chat to the Planetarium’s astronomer and to be immersed in a planetarium experience. You will finish the evening stargazing through telescopes (weather permitting).

Each evening will showcase a different aspect of the night sky. For more information, pricing or bookings please see its What's On listing or call Scienceworks Booking Office on 9392 4819 between 9am and 4:30pm, Monday to Friday.

Sunrise and Sunset Times

Moon Phases

The Moon will be at perigee (closest to Earth) on Wednesday 22nd at a distance of 357 464 km.

The Moon will be at apogee (furthest from Earth) on Wednesday 8th at a distance of 406 232 km.

Let The Moon Be Your Guide

The Moon can be used as a pointer to find other objects in the sky.

• On the 1st the waxing gibbous Moon can be found near Spica (Virgo, the maiden).
• The Moon is very close to the red supergiant star Antares (Scorpius) on the 4th.
• During the evening of the 10th the Moon rises just to the left of bright Jupiter.
• On the morning of the 18th the waning crescent Moon can be found near the star cluster Pleiades with Mars sitting to the right.
• Before sunrise on the 19th the Moon sits just below and to the left of Venus.
• After sunset on the 24th a very thin crescent Moon sits above Regulus (Leo, the lion).
• During the early evening of the 25th, the waxing crescent Moon lies to the left of Saturn.
• On the 28th the Moon is close to Spica (Virgo).
• On the night of the 31st the Moon joins Antares in Scorpius.

Planets

Mercury cannot be seen this month as it moves too close the Sun.

Venus can be seen at the start of the month near the red planet Mars. The two are found in the north-east sky just before sunrise. As the month goes by, Venus drops lower in the sky. It sits to the left of the red giant star Aldebaran (Taurus, the bull) on the morning of the 13th. On the 19th the thin crescent Moon sits to the left of Venus.

Earth reaches aphelion on Saturday 4th. This is when the Earth is at its furthest point from the Sun for the year. It is a coincidence that this occurs during our winter; changes in the distance between the Earth and Sun are small enough that they do not significantly affect the temperature on Earth.

Mars begins the month with Venus in the north-east sky at sunrise. The pair can be seen above the bright star cluster Pleiades (Taurus, the bull). The two planets will slowly drift away from each other. On the morning of the 18th the Moon is to the left of Pleiades, and Mars can be found to the right of the star cluster.

Jupiter rises in the east around 9pm. Sitting very close to Jupiter, although not visible to the naked eye, is the planet Neptune. By morning Jupiter can be seen in the western sky. The Moon sits just above Jupiter on the night of the 10th.

Saturn can be seen for a few hours each evening in the north-west sky. It is slowly following the bright star Regulus (Leo, the lion) towards the north-west horizon. After sunset on the 25th the crescent Moon sits to the left of Saturn.

Meteors

While July doesn’t have any strong meteor showers, there are a number of minor showers that combine to produce good results during the later half of the month. The area of sky to watch is around the constellations of Aquarius and Capricornus and as always, the best time to spot meteors is after midnight. The main meteor shower for July, the Southern Delta Aquarids, peaks on the 28th.

Stars and Constellations

In the west in the early evening is the kite shape of Corvus, the crow, sitting just below the bright star Spica, in Virgo. The Southern Cross is high in the south while the bright stars Canopus and Achernar are found low to the southern horizon.

Almost overhead, Scorpius takes up a large part of the sky with the hook shape of its tail. Sitting below the tail of Scorpius is the teapot shape of Sagittarius.

International Space Station

From Earth, the ISS appears as a bright star that steadily moves across the sky. It can often be seen from Melbourne, for example at:

6:56am – 7:02am, Tuesday 14th July.

The Station will first appear above the north-west horizon and travel past Jupiter before disappearing in the south-east.

Predictions of when to see the ISS can be obtained from the Heaven's Above website.

On This Day

4th 1997, Mars Pathfinder (NASA) lands on Mars.

4th 1054, Chinese and other astronomers witnessed the supernova explosion that produced the Crab Nebula.

6th 1687, Isaac Newton (UK) published 'Principia Mathematica'.

10th  1962, Telstar (USA) the first private telecommunications satellite was launched.

11th 1979, Skylab 1 (USA) was destroyed during re-entry over central Australia.

14th 1965, Mariner 4 (USA) made the first controlled flyby of Mars and returned the first close-up images of the planet.

15th 1975, first USA/USSR space project Apollo-Soyuz was launched.

17th 1850, W.C. Bond and J.A. Whipple (USA) take the first photograph of a star.

20th 1969, Apollo 11 (USA) lands on the Moon. At 12:39pm AEST (21st) Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon.

23rd  1999, The Chandra X-ray Observatory (USA) is launched from the space shuttle Columbia.

25th 2000, The International Space Station starts to take shape with the installation of the Russian Service Module.