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| This web site is a joint venture of the
Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium and
Vermont Public Radio with support from the Partnership
for a Nation of Learners, a Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Institute of Museum and Library
Services leadership initiative. |
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July Skies 2010
This July hosts a lovely arrangement of planets low in the western twilight, with Venus as the brightest and lowest of a trio. Mars and Saturn edge closer together, and slip closer to Venus through the month. Jupiter watches from the eastern skies by late evening. As the twilight fades around 10 o’clock, the southern skies feature the Scorpion, its “heart” marked by the red star Antares, with claws stretching to the west, and its tail right along the horizon. Rising higher in the east are three bright stars forming the Summer Triangle, seen overhead by midnight. Rising with them is the Milky Way, arched from the Scorpion in the south, to the Queen, Cassiopeia in the north, while the Big Dipper settles slowly into the northwest.
30 – The bluish-white star Vega is nearly overhead, while the brilliant pale-orange Arcturus is about half way up from the horizon in the west. Between, about two thirds of the way from Arcturus up to Vega, a bow-tie shaped pattern of stars can be found, outlining the figure of Hercules.
31 –The waning Gibbous Moon rises later each evening, tonight appearing in the east just a few minutes before Jupiter and well to that planet's left, near 10:25 PM EDT.
August
1 – Saturn and Mars, low in the west as twilight fades between 9:00 and 9:30 PM EDT, make their closest approach, called “conjunction”. Mars is moving much faster than Saturn, but the Earth is moving our viewing location. The end result is Mars moving to the left and a little higher, while both of them slip toward the horizon through the month.
Astronomy Resources:
Click on the titles of the resources listed below:
Sky & Telescope's Interactive Star Chart
Follow the directions to get a chart that will show the sky for any location, at any time.
The Old Farmer's Almanac
This is a great source of sunrise and sunset tables, the Moon, its phases, as well as the viewing of planets, meteors, and eclipses throughout the year.
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Each day brings a fascinating look at astronomy, and an explanation of what you are seeing.
Vermont Astronomical Society
The Vermont Astronomical Society (VAS) is a group of amateur astronomers that has been serving northern Vermont for over 45 years. Membership ranges from beginning naked-eye stargazers to advanced amateurs with home observatories and elaborate equipment.
NASA Science
This is the home of NASA, where science ranges from the Earth to the ends of the universe. That means there's a lot to explore!
Magazines:
Sky & Telescope Magazine
Astronomy Magazine
SpaceWeather.com
News and information about the Earth-Sun environment.
Books:
There are thousands of books, and each has information that can be helpful. You might collect a few before you find one that matches your taste and way of thinking about astronomy. To help you get started, check with your local library or favorite book store for the following titles:
The Stars by H. A. Rey
Rey, well known for writing and illustrating the "Curious George" books, wrote this wonderful introduction to the night sky in the 1950s, and it remains one of the best for a wide range of ages and interests.
NightWatch by Terrence Dickinson
This ring-bound book leads the beginning star gazer through the heavens, rich in photographs, charts, and lots of practical information.
Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning by Richard Hinkley Allen
For those who love the myths and origins of star names and constellations, this is a wonderful start. Some of the interpretations have been challenged in recent years as others have looked into the subject, so it is not considered the final authority. But it is still a wealth of ideas and information.
Night Sky: A Guide to Field Identification (Golden Field Guides) by Mark R. Chartrand
This all around guide book shows you how to find the constellations, describes the nature of the heavens and the objects we see, and how to set up and use a telescope
Exploring the Night Skies with Binoculars by David Chandler
This is must, because it gives such practical and realistic expectations about what you can see.
Also of interest:
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Astronomy by Christopher De Pree and Alan Axelrod
Cosmos by Carl Sagan
365 Starry Nights by Chet Raymo
The Sky: A User’s Guide by David Levy
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