Fun target this month – the 1 Ceres asteroid which is at opposition, so try looking from sundown to sunup. Look at the bottom junction of the “Teapot” and the handle asterisms of the constellation Sagittarius.
MERCURY - in our evening sky with magnitude of -0.6 early this month. Should be easy to see with Castor & Pollux (from the constellation Gemini) to the NW of Mercury in the first week of July. On the 7th, the waxing Moon will be 3° above Mercury in the twilight sky. On the 22nd, Mercury has the greatest eastern elongation (greatest distance from the Sun) and is dimmed to 0.5 magnitude. It is headed to superior conjunction (opposite side of the Sun from Earth) in August.
VENUS - also in our evening sky, setting within 30 minutes of the setting Sun. Which makes it a bit difficult to see right now. It will still be hugging the horizon until the end of the month.
EARTH - reaches aphelion, its farthest distance from the Sun on July 5th, about 94 million miles.
MARS - rises after midnight, with a magnitude of 1, in Aries, about 15° from the Pleiades (M45). On the 30th, Mars, Jupiter & the Moon abound in Taurus, in the east about 1 hour before sunrise. Mars will give Taurus the Bull a 2nd eye, the better to see us!!
JUPITER - becomes more visible each day and climbs higher in the pre-dawn sky, HOORAY!!. Early month finds the planet at -2 magnitude and about 15° above the horizon. On the 3rd, Jupiter has a stunning conjunction with the Moon, between 4:30 & 5 AM, in the E-NE. By the end of the month, it is at 0.1 magnitude and about 40° above the horizon. On the 13th, it will stand about 5° due north of Aldebaran with a magnitude of -2.1.
SATURN - rises after midnight, in the NE in Aquarius with a magnitude of 0.9. On the 24th, the Moon will be 7° west of Saturn. The rings remain very fine, nearly edge-on. On the 8th, Saturn occults its Titan moon about 1:30 AM with a 2nd occultation on the 24th. Titan, Saturn’s large moon, orbits the planet every 16 days with a magnitude of 8.5.
URANUS - is in Taurus all month. On the 12th, Mars can be found just 2° from this planet. On the 15th, Mars and Uranus will be only 0.6° apart & about 30° above the horizon, with Uranus north of the tiny Mars. Mars will pull away as the month proceeds. Uranus shows a dim, greenish-blue hue & magnitude 5.8. These 2 planets are quite the dancing pair this month.
NEPTUNE - also rises after midnight, in Pisces. On the 25th the waning gibbous Moon is about 4.5° SW of the planet, 2 hours after rising.
This month’s full moon is commonly known as the ‘Buck Moon’, as new antlers are emerging from a buck’s forehead.
The Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks on May 5th, before sunrise in the eastern sky, with possibly 50 meteors per hour, but more probably only 15-20 per hour as the radiant sits low in the morning sky. However, the southern states enjoy better viewing of this meteor shower, with the Southern Hemisphere being the favored location.
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Ashton Observatory is located in Ashton Wildwood County Park, Jasper County, IA
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