Evening Planetary Show
For the past several months, Saturn, Mars, and Venus have been gracing our evening sky, although they have been widely spaced. But now, as they are closing in on one another, they’re in the early stages of an evening sky show you won’t want to miss.
For the past several months, Saturn, Mars, and Venus have been gracing our evening sky, although they have been widely spaced. But now, as they are closing in on one another, they’re in the early stages of an evening sky show you won’t want to miss.
Venus, the dazzling “evening star” in the west, is hard to miss, but Mars and Saturn can easily be confused with stars — so let’s see how to figure out what’s what.
First, we’ll identify some other nearby objects that are part of the show. Two bright 1st magnitude stars in the area are Leo’s Regulus and Virgo’s Spica. Planet Mercury makes an appearance near the horizon, and the crescent Moon glides by over several nights. Making it easier to find and sort out all the objects is the fact that they are generally aligned diagonally with Venus and Regulus at the lower right and Spica at the upper left with all the rest between them except Mercury.
Venus, of course, is the star of the show, becoming visible soon after sunset well before any of the other players. As the sky darkens, watch as for Regulus to become visible a little to Venus’ lower right. Regulus is a bright star, yet much dimmer than Venus. Then each night thereafter Venus gradually moves toward the upper left, pulling further away from the star.
To find Mars, make a fist with your left hand and hold it at arm’s length. Mars is about one and a half fist-widths to Venus’ upper left appearing slightly reddish and as bright as Regulus.
Now go one more fist-width to the upper left and you’ll Saturn, looking like a creamy-colored star a bit brighter than Mars. Finally, another two and a half fist-widths to the upper left is Spica, a white star about the brightness of Saturn.
While those are the main characters, they’re not the entire cast as the crescent Moon makes a cameo appearance. Early Tuesday (July 13) evening a thin crescent is near the western horizon a fist-width below Venus and Regulus. Then over the next several evenings, as its crescent thickens, it passes by the others.
Wednesday evening it is to Venus’s lower left, making for a beautiful pairing. Then Thursday evening it forms a triangle with Mars (upper right) and Saturn (above). Friday evening, it is a fist-width to the left of Saturn and Mars. And July 17, nearly at its 1st quarter phase, the Moon is half a fist-width below Spica.
The shy and elusive little Mercury is easy to miss. Orbiting near the Sun, it is never seen far from our star’s glare. When in the morning sky, Mercury appears low in the east a little before sunrise, and when in the evening sky, as it is now, it is low in the west for a short while after the Sun goes below the horizon.
About 15 minutes after sunset, start looking for a surprisingly bright star-like object just above the west northwestern horizon two and a half fist-widths to Venus’ lower left. It creeps slightly higher each evening over the next couple of weeks, edging closer to Regulus which it finally catches July 27.
As you watch Venus, Mars, and Saturn over the next couple of weeks note that they are closing in on one another, preparing for some dramatic pairings which we’ll talk about next time.
Sky Calendar.
* July 11 Sat.: The new Moon produces a total eclipse of the Sun that won’t be visible from the northern hemisphere.
* 18 Sun.: The Moon is at 1st quarter.
* 25 Sun.: The full Moon is called Hay Moon and Thunder Moon.
* 31 Sat. morning: The Moon is above Jupiter high in the south.
Naked-eye Planets. Evening: (above). Morning: Bright Jupiter, rising after midnight, is in the southeast.
Astro Milestone. July 20, 1969, U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to land and walk on the moon. (Bet you remember where you were.)
Stargazer appears every other week. Paul Derrick is an amateur astronomer who lives in Waco. Contact him at 918 N. 30th, Waco, 76707, (254) 753-6920 or paulderrickwaco@aol.com. See the Stargazer Web site at stargazerpaul.com.
Screw Iraq, Afghanistan & Gaza: Let’s Invade Detroit!
Returning from the 2010 Social Forum in Detroit, I saw several soldiers at the DTW airport, waiting for their flights. And once again I was struck by the thought that every American soldier seems to be a whole autonomous unit unto himself or herself. Every American soldier truly IS an “Army of One”. Highly trained, efficient, skilled, confident and respectful — these men and women in uniform are just the kind of people that Detroit really needs to get itself out of its slump. And every other city in America needs this caliber of person too.
<http://jpstillwater.blogspot.com/2010/06/screw-iraq-afghanistan-gaza-lets-invade.html>
Returning from the 2010 Social Forum in Detroit, I saw several soldiers at the DTW airport, waiting for their flights. And once again I was struck by the thought that every American soldier seems to be a whole autonomous unit unto himself or herself. Every American soldier truly IS an “Army of One”. Highly trained, efficient, skilled, confident and respectful — these men and women in uniform are just the kind of people that Detroit really needs to get itself out of its slump. And every other city in America needs this caliber of person too.
So please tell me why, exactly, are these walking human resources being wasted way over on the other side of the world when their dedication and skill sets and — let’s face it — salaries and healthcare benefits are so desperately needed here at home?
No, we don’t need our soldiers’ weapons skills in places like the Gulf Coast states or the Rust Belt. But we do need their dedication and heart.
We need the Marine Corps’ skill sets. “The few, the proud.” We really do. And we need that kind of bravery and willingness to get the job done here rather than there.
Second Marine Regiment in Al Anbar. Tarawa. “Keep Moving.” I was there. I saw for myself what our Marines can do to help re-build a country.
We need our soldiers’ ingenuity, dignity and courage here at home, helping to put America back on track — not over in Afghanistan, not over in Iraq and not even over in Gaza — where the corporatists who run America pay the cream of Israeli youth to do their dirty work for them, wasting their young lives being thugs to the brutal Occupation instead of being honorable men who refuse to shoot babies at point-blank range.
When I see a soldier at an airport, I just want to go up and hug him. Or her. You think that our boys aren’t doing a good job? Then go see Sebastian Junger’s new documentary movie “Restrepo”<http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/restrepo/> That’s the kind of ability and dedication I saw demonstrated again and again and again when I was in Iraq.
These guys are good.
But we need these men and women’s dedication and skills here at home, not over on the other side of the world.
And we need to be paying these men and women to be using their skill sets here, in America, in civilian life — in a job corps as well as a Marine Corps.
Screw bailouts for bankers, oil executives, Wall Street schemers and global corporations with no ties or loyalties to our country. They have done nothing with the money that Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama gave them except to use it to rip us off even more.
Let’s take back all that money — and give it to our returning soldiers instead. Let’s fill up ALL of our airports with returning soldiers. We truly need this lost generation’s abilities here at home. Now.
PS: While I was at the Social Forum representing the Free Palestine Movement, my booth was next to a booth manned by Peggy Logue and her husband. Logue is another dedicated Marine Mom. And she was selling her new book, “Skin in the Game,” all about her Marine son’s experiences in Haditha and her conflict between wanting to support her son’s efforts and her moral obligation to try to stop the needless bloodshed caused by global corporate wars. “Intense, raw, and profoundly honest, ‘Skin in the Game’ illustrates the human side of war and the daily struggle for peace.” <http://www.amazon.com/Skin-Game-Journey-Mother-Marine/dp/142692433X>
At the Social Forum, I also talked with Kyle Kajihiro, a representative of the American Friends Service Committee <http://afschawaii.org>) in Hawaii, and he told me how the entire Pacific Rim area has become just another highly-militarized “American Lake” — to the benefit of global corporatists, not us.
Screw that.
We need skilled men and women here at home, not hunkering off somewhere in faraway places like Guam or Okinawa, defending rich people’s interests — not ours — because that’s the only job that our young men and women can get.
PPS: The Detroit airport is the only airport I have ever seen besides, of course, the Norita airport near Tokyo, where all signs are printed in both English and Japanese.
****
RESTREPO is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. The movie focuses on a remote 15-man outpost, “Restrepo,” named after a platoon medic who was killed in action. It was considered one of the most dangerous postings in the U.S. military.
This is an entirely experiential film: the cameras never leave the valley; there are no interviews with generals or diplomats. The only goal is to make viewers feel as if they have just been through a 90-minute deployment. This is war, full stop. The conclusions are up to you.
<http://www.sebastianjunger.com/page/restrepo-1>
Here’s the trailer: <http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/restrepo/>
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Skin in the Game, by Peggy Logue: It’s an age-old axiom: if you don’t support the war, you don’t support the troops. And Peggy Logue couldn’t disagree more. When Peggy’s 19-year-old son, U.S. Marine Michael Logue, is deployed to a volatile area of Iraq, Peggy suddenly faces an alarming challenge to her anti-war sensibilities. Should she remain silent or give voice to her feelings? Despite being called a “coward” by other members of the Marine Family Residence group, Peggy takes to the streets for her anti-war protests in a determined attempt to understand the reasons for her son’s duty to his country and the politics of war.
Peggy’s protests, her stress over Mike’s deployment, and her fierce pride in her son hurtle her along an emotional roller coaster for the entire year of Mike’s tour. Yet not once does she compromise her beliefs, but instead asks the tough questions and demands answers. What she discovers, however, is human nature’s predilection for violence. Only by becoming warriors for peace will war cease to exist.
<http://www.amazon.com/Skin-Game-Journey-Mother-Marine/dp/142692433X>
