Mon, 2 July 2007 ![]() Download this month's sky map!Kym Thalassoudis does a wonderful job creating accurate and easy to use star maps every month! Visit his site at www.skymaps.com for skymaps and links to other useful astronomical sites. Also a great portal for astronomical gifts! Northern hemisphere sky
map Those in the Southern Hemisphere should also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere July sky.
Another great site for Southern Hemisphere viewers is the Royal Astronomical
Society of New Zealand's Southern Hemisphere Calendar can be found at the RASNZ site
Download "What's up 2007: 365 days of Skywatching" by Tammy Plotner, published by Universe Today (Faser Cain) it is a fantastic and it is free! Planets for July 2007
Key Dates for July 2007Days and Times in UT (help with
time) Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards Occultation information can be found at the IOTA website!
Astronomical Highlights
This will be a light month as we wait for the Milky Way to rise into better view later this NH-summer/SH-winter. Our list consist of six globular clusters and one very bright galaxy. All of these objects are possible with binoculars, most are down right easy even with small binoculars. M3 - This globular cluster in Canes Venatici is one of the brightest objects in the sky. In binoculars this object is definitely not star like, but more of a bright, small snowball easy to see. Small telescopes will begin to resolve M3 into individual stars. The hardest part of this object is locating it in a portion of sky that contains few bright landmarks. M53 - Another globular cluster in Canes Venatici. While not quite as big or bright as M3 it is still an obvious binocular object. Resolvable in small telescopes, it as easy object to find sharing the same low power telescope field as fifth magnitude Alpha Coma Berenices. M5 - A big, bright globular cluster located in Serpens Caput. M5 is as nice as M3 but lies near a fifth magnitude naked eye star (5 Serpentis) making it an easy object to find. M68 - An eighth magnitude globular cluster in Hydra, M68 is a difficult binocular object for Northern observers. It appears as a faint fuzz spot in binoculars, you may need to use averted vision or large binoculars to find this one. Appearing as a round fuzzy patch in a 8" telescope, you will need a much larger aperature to really resolve it. M83 - A face on spiral in Hydra. M83 is fairly easy in binoculars as a faint, fuzzy patch of light. In a telescope look for a large patch of light with a bright center. M4 - A big bright globular in Scorpius, easily located near Antares. This is an easy binocular object appearing as a round snowball. Partially resolvable in a telescope, the trade mark of this globular is a line of bright stars crossing the center. M80 - This is the smallest and faintest globular cluster this month. Located in Scopius, M80 is a very tough binocular object appearing as a faint star with slight fuzziness around the edges. This is confirmed with a telescope, M80 has a bright central condensation in the middle of faint fuzz. It is one of the Messier objects that even through a medium telescope still looks like a comet. *Monthly Messier information gleaned from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Moncton Centre Quebec and from the Astronomy Connection website. Astronomical Highlights for 2007Earth's major motions for 2007 Planet Positions for 2007 Eclipses for 2007 March 19 - partial solar eclipse (see map, times, and animation!): The first solar eclipse of 2007 occurs at the Moon's ascending node in Pisces and is visible from eastern Asia and parts of northern Alaska September 11 - partial solar eclipse (see map, times, and animation): The last eclipse of 2007 is a partial solar eclipse at the Moon's descending node in southern Leo. Its visibility is confined to parts of South America, Antarctica and the South Atlantic March 3-4 - total lunar eclipse (see map): The beginning of the umbral phase visible in the Arctic region, Africa, Europe, Asia except for extreme eastern region, most of Indonesia, western Australia, Queen Maud Land of Antarctica, extreme eastern South America, Greenland, the Indian Ocean, the South Atlantic Ocean, and the eastern North Atlantic Ocean; the end visible in Africa, Europe, western Asia, Queen Maud Land of Antarctica and Antarctic Peninsula, South America, eastern North America, Greenland, the Arctic region, the Atlantic Ocean, the western Indian Ocean, and the extreme eastern South Pacific Ocean. August 28 - total lunar eclipse (see map): The beginning of the umbral phase visible in North America, South America except extreme east, Antarctica except for Enderby Land, New Zealand, eastern Australia, extreme northeastern Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and the western Atlantic Ocean; the end visible in New Zealand, Australia, most of Antarctica except Queen Maud Land, Indonesia, eastern Asia, western North America, the Pacific Ocean, and the southeastern Indian Ocean. Eclipse information from: NASA Eclipse Homepage, Eclipses Online (HM Nautical Almanac Office, UK in coordination with the U.S. Naval Observatory)As luck would have it, all the major meteor showers reach their peaks in 2007 with the Moon out of the sky. Any of these showers can produce dozens of shooting stars each dark hour leading up to dawn. Mark your calendar to look for...
Historical and Current Events...Did you know?Culled from Wikipedia and others, by Mark Tillotson (Thank you
Mark!) The approximate date of Earth's aphelion. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in
the constellation of Gemini and ends in the constellation of Cancer. Please go to this file for this wonderful list of historical events! Comets for July Gary Kronk's comet and meteor pagesSkyhound Comet pages Help us out by leaving a donation in the ol' PayPal hat or write us a favorable review in iTunes of Podcast Pickle or iPodder! Music Scottish Guitar
Quartet -"Romance within you"
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