2019-07-01_Australian_Sky_&_Telescope

http://www.skyandtelescope.com.au 47

by Con Stoitsis METEORS

Duelling winter showers

Moonlessnightsat theendof Julywillbe perfectformeteorwatching.

M

eteoractivityintheSouthern

Hemisphereis generallyat its

bestduringthewintermonths,

withtheSouthernDeltaAquariids

beingthepickofthebunchofmeteor

showersfroma numberspointof

view.Thisshoweris activefromJulyto

August,peakingonthemorningofJuly

30 whenyoucanexpecttoseefrom 5

to8 meteorsperhourfroma darksky.

Theyareusuallyfaintandswift.

Anothershower,theAlpha

Capricornids,alsois activefromJuly

toAugust,peakingonthemorningof

July29.Thisshoweris richinbright

meteorsandfireballactivity,butlow

innumbers.Themeteorsareusually

yellowincolour,andmanyleavetrains

thatlastforminutes.

Forbothoftheseshowersit’sbest

tostartobservingafter3:00am.The

Moonwillbeabsentonbothofthe

peakmornings,soviewingshouldbe

good(weatherpermitting).Thediagram

showsthepositionsofthetworadiants.

Finally,asI mentionedinthelast

issue,thewintermonthsaregreatfor

spottingsporadicmeteors.Theseare

randommeteorsthatnotassociated

withanyparticularshower,soit always

pSaturnreachesoppositionthismonth.

paystokeepaneyeoutwhenyou’re

outstargazing!

■CONSTOITSISis directorofthe

AstronomicalSocietyofVictoria’scomet

andmeteorsections.Followhimon

Twitter@vivstoitsis

J U LY

1 Moon2°northof Aldebaran

4 Moon6°southof Pollux

4 Mars1°southof theMoon

4 Mercury4°southof theMoon

6 Moon4°northof Regulus

10 Saturnat opposition

13 Moon8°northof Antares

14 Jupiter4°southof theMoon

15 Plutoat opposition

16 Saturn0.2°northof theMoon

21 Mercuryat inferiorconjunction

26 Uranus6°westof theMoon

28 Moon4°westof Aldebaran

31 Mercury 5° south of the Moon

SKY PHENOMENA LUNAR PHENOMENA

J U LY

New Moon ...... 2nd, 19:16 UT

First Quarter ...... 9th, 10:55 UT

Full Moon ...... 16th, 21:38 UT

Last Quarter ...... 25th, 01:18 UT

Perigee ...... 5th, 05h UT, 363,726 km

Apogee ...... 21st, 00h UT, 405,481 km

and even perhaps the Crepe Ring. The
Moon will join with Saturn on the
16th, appearing to come close to the
planet. Next month, much of Australia
will be treated to a lunar occultation
of Saturn, during which the Moon will
move in front of the planet. The event
will occur in the evening twilight for
many locations, although for some
places it will still be daylight.
Pluto (14.6, 0.1′′) reaches opposition
on the 15th. The tiny, icy world is
currently 32.8 astronomical units
from Earth, with its dim reflected light
taking just over 4.5 hours to reach us.
If you have enough aperture to spot
Pluto, you’ll find the dwarf planet in
Sagittarius.
Earth reaches aphelion — its farthest
orbital point from the Sun — on July 5,
at which time we will be 152,104,233
kilometres (or 1.016754 astronomical
units) from our local star.
There will be a partial lunar eclipse
on the morning of July 17, the only
lunar eclipse visible from Australia this
year. It’s not going to be the best one to
witness, unfortunately, due to both the
time of day and the small amount of
time the Moon spends in Earth’s umbral
shadow. See page 55 for full details.