2019-07-01_Australian_Sky_&_Telescope

(singke) #1
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.

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