In the Sky This Week – July 4, 2017

Venus and bright star Capella in the eastern morning sky – 4 AM July 5 2017. Venus’ orbit is shown in red. Image credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley

Venus is the bright morning star in the eastern sky, attended by the Pleiades star cluster, and the bright star Capella to the northeast.

Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon in the southern sky – 10 PM July 4, 2017. Image credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley

The southern sky is adorned with several jewels this week: the Moon appears high in the southern sky before sunset as a waxing gibbous – a few days past first quarter. Jupiter and Saturn are both visible, as are the bright stars Antares and Spica. The full Moon will be on July 9th.

Bright star Altair and constellation Sagittarius rising in the East – 10 PM July 4, 2017. Image credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley

The bright star Altair (featured in the classic SF film Forbidden Planet) rises in the east followed by the constellation Sagittarius to the southeast. Sagittarius is recognizable by “The Teapot” asterism low on the horizon.

Constellation Sagittarius and the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Image credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley

Sagittarius has several interesting deep sky objects to observe using telescopes; something cool you can do with the public during nighttime observing sessions is point to the Teapot’s spout and say “that’s where center of our Milky Way galaxy is!”

Hercules and Ursa Major on the northwestern horizon – 4 AM July 5, 2017. Image credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley

Before dawn, the constellation Hercules sets in the west, and “The Big Dipper” asterism is very low on the northern horizon.

Conjunction of the Moon, Saturn and Antares – 10 PM July 5, 2017. Image credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley

Conjunction of the Moon, Saturn and Antares – 10 PM July 6, 2017. Image credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley

Conjunction of the Moon, Saturn and Antares – 10 PM July 7, 2017. Image credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley

There will be a conjunction of the Moon, Saturn and the star Antares three nights in a row between July 5-7, with the Moon very close to Saturn on July 6th.

Overhead – 10 PM July 4, 2017. Image credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley

Solar System July 4, 2017. Image credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley