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.
