Skywatch: Early-rising Saturn leads July’s planetary parade

Against a star-spangled backdrop for July, a string of visible planets enters our heavens late, treats for morning sky-gazers. We get a slightly closer, larger full moon at mid-month, and we may see a few meteors at month’s end.

Saturn starts the parade of planetary activity as it rises now at nearly 11 p.m. in the east-southeast. Find the large, gaseous, ringed planet wedged between the constellations Aquarius and Capricornus. At +0.5 magnitude, bright, the ringed planet becomes a little brighter through July as it heads toward opposition (where Earth is between the sun and Saturn) on Aug. 14, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. In the latter part of July, Saturn rises much earlier — around 9:30 p.m.

The giant Jupiter rises now before 1 a.m. in the east, hanging out in the constellation Pisces. On clear nights, you can’t miss it at -2.4 magnitude (very bright), according to the observatory. Toward the end of July, this gaseous planet rises around 11:30 p.m. By the way, Jupiter is brightening like Saturn, as we’ll see its opposition in late September.

Mars, Earth’s reddish neighbor, follows Jupiter, rising now in the east-northeast around 1:30 a.m. The Red Planet huddles in the constellation Pisces, and later in July camps out between the constellations Aries, Taurus and Cetus (the whale).

Mars now is +0.4 magnitude, bright, but improves to +0.2 magnitude, bright, later in July, as it steadily becomes more vivid throughout the late summer and fall in time for its opposition in December, according to the observatory. Later in July, Mars rises before 1 a.m.

Venus, trailing Mars, rises now just before 4 a.m. in the east-northeast at the horizon, ushering in the sun’s morning twilight. It’s a brilliant -3.9 magnitude, very bright. Our effervescent neighbor starts the month in the constellation Taurus and ends July loitering with the twins in Gemini.

Find the full moon on July 13, which some may call a supermoon. The moon reaches perigee (the closest it gets to Earth for the month) on July 12, so astronomers call this a “perigee full moon.” At 221,994 miles away, according to the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, the moon is the closest it gets to us this year.

Days after the full moon, our lunar neighbor wanes and becomes a summertime planetary tourist. In the July mornings, the sightseer moon passes Saturn on July 15-16, then sneaks by Jupiter on July 19. The last-quarter moon passes Mars on July 21, and the fingernail sliver of the moon approaches the bright Venus by July 25 before becoming a new moon July 28.

Late in July, a small meteor shower may interest sky gazers: the Southern Delta Aquariids peak on the night of July 29-30, according to the American Meteor Society (amsmeteors.org).

These shooting stars will not be competing with a moon this year. The peak’s forecast is for 16 to 20 meteors an hour, according to the meteor society and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Meteors happen when the Earth speeds into the dusty cosmic trails of comets that have passed. The dust smacks our atmosphere and offers a light show. Astronomers think the shower’s parent is Comet Machholz (96P).

Down-to-Earth Events

* July 20 — “Tour of the Universe” — While the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum on the Mall is closed as it undergoes renovations until the fall, enjoy a multistation tour at other Smithsonian venues from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Throughout the mall, find eight stations of hands-on activities and telescopes that unwrap answers about our sun, black holes, exoplanets and other cosmic fun. The National Gallery of Art, for example, hosts the exoplanets station, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture will have a station explaining gravity. Build a laser maze at the exploration station at the National Museum of American History, and investigate the sun at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. All stations will have properly filtered solar telescopes for viewing the sun safely. For complete detail: tinyurl.com/5x7hbavd.

Blaine Friedlander can be reached at [email protected].

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