Be sure to take a look at the pretty triangle of first Quarter moon, Saturn to the upper
right of the moon, and the bright star Spica to the upper left of the moon tonight.
Tomorrow, the moon will be to the left of Spica. Even with your unaided eye, you'll
see another star right next to Saturn. That's a pretty double star in Virgo named
Porrima.
Stay up past midnight and you can watch Jupiter rise. If you want to see the asteroid
Vesta, you will have to wait until after midnight too, and you'll need a dark
location with good southern horizons. I had a look at Vesta over the weekend. It just
took binoculars and knowing where to look. You can see where to look ( in the low
southern constellation Capricornus) in my July What's Up video.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JPLnews#grid/uploads (or if you are familiar with star
charts, this one in Astronomy magazine is good:
http://is.gd/jWxX1b) It will be a little
brighter next month, but you'll still have to wait until nearly midnight or later for
a good view of the constellation Capricornus.
This is the weekend for our public star parties and we'll be showcasing the moon and
Saturn. Your Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers will be taking telescopes out to
Pasadena's Old Town area Friday night – right on Colorado Blvd between Fair Oaks and
Pasadena Avenues. Some others of our group will be out at Duarte's Pamela Park (
2236 Goodall Avenue, Duarte, CA ) Friday night from 8-10 p.m. Saturday night we'll
be showing the same two objects at Monrovia's Library Park. This will be the last
month for decent evening Saturn viewing until next year.
Now, if you have a Harry Potter fan in the family, you might enjoy reading (or observing)
all the astronomical Potter Objects. Sidewalk astronomers Caroline, Elizabeth, Catherine
and I researched, field tested, and wrote a fun observing list a few years ago. I just
dusted it off for the new movie coming out soon. I even added constellations for the
Hogwarts houses: Gryffindor's Leo, Slytherin's Serpens (or Hydra, take your
pick), Ravenclaw's Aquila, and Hufflepuffs … Badger? How about Vuplecula the fox,
Lupus the wolf, or Lynx the Lynx as a badger constellation standin?
http://is.gd/V51sxo
Jane Houston Jones
Senior Outreach Specialist, Cassini Program
Phone 818-393-6435
What's Up For July? Asteroids
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-archive.cfm
Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JPLnews