In Manx skies... July 2010 ~ compiled by Dave Storey
New
11th
at
19.40h
First Quarter
18th
at 10.11h
Full
26th
at 01.37h
Last Quarter
4th
at 14.35h
Note: All times are Universal Time (UT)
There are no solar or lunar eclipses visible from the Isle of Man this month. On the 11th, a total solar eclipse occurs. Visible from the South Pacific Ocean.
Solar activity remains low in visible light but sunspot activity has shown signs of increasing during the later parts of 2009 and early 2010.
WARNING: NEVER DIRECTLY OBSERVE THE SUN WITH YOUR NAKED EYES AND/OR OPTICAL INSTRUMENTATION: YOU WILL BE BLINDED!
Carrington's Solar Rotation number 2099 starts on the 13th at 09.36h.
Earth reaches aphelion on the 9th when it will be 94.5 million miles from the Sun.
Is poorly placed for viewing from the Isle of Man. It becomes visible in the evening sky from mid month but is too low down after sunset to be seen clearly from the Isle of Man.
Is in the evening sky shining at a brilliant -4.1. It passes 1° north of the star Regulus in Leo on the 10th and this will be best viewed through a pair of binoculars due to a bright twilight sky.
Through
a telescope the planet will display a small disc ranging
from 15.5" to 19.8" and a phase that decreases
from 70.8% to 58.6%
Is in Leo shining at +1.3 at the start of the month and fading to +1.5 by the end of the month. On the 19th, the planet moves into the constellation of Virgo. The planet is too far away now from earth to get a decent view of the surface details. The distance ranging from 1.79 to 1.99 au. The disc of the planet is now less than 6 arc seconds. On the 31st at 06.33h, Mars is in conjunction with Saturn. Distance between the two will be 1.8° with Mars shining at +1.5 and Saturn at +1.1. However, the conjunction will be difficult to see on the evening of the 31st due to the bright twilight sky. Venus will be 7.5° to the right of Mars and Saturn at this time.
Is in Pisces shining at -2.5 at the beginning of the month and brightening slightly to -2.7 by months end. It will rise at 23.43h on the 1st and rise 21.47h on the 31st.
The planet is moving prograde (west to east) up to the 24th when it will appear to become stationary briefly before changing direction to a retrograde (east to west) motion.
At the time of writing, the South Equatorial Belt (SEB) has faded from view, so the traditional double equatorial belts that is normally seen in a small telescope is now single. The SEB undergoes periodic disappearances.
As
the moons orbit Jupiter, there are occasions when the shadow
of the moons can be seen upon the surface of Jupiter and
the moons can transit across Jupiter's disc. Also, the
moons can be seen to be occulted or eclipsed by Jupiter.
There are many events throughout the month. See periodicals
such as the BAA
Handbook, Astronomy Now
and Sky at Night
magazines for listings.
To help you identify the moons at any particular time, Sky and Telescope have a Java tool that will plot the moon positions. Click Here.
Is
in the constellation Virgo, shining at +1.1. It sets at 00.02h on
the 1st and at 22.07h on the 31st.
The rings of Saturn are at a shallow angle, opening up from from+2.2° to +3.2°.
The north side of the rings are on view.
The moon Titan is west of the planet 7th ,8th ,9th , 10th 23rd ,24th ,25th , 26th . It will be east on 1st,2nd ,15th ,16th ,17th ,18th and 31st.
Is in Pisces about 2° to the right of Jupiter. It shines at magnitude +5.8
Wide
field view showing locations of Uranus and Neptune.
Use
the above chart to locate Uranus through a telescope or large
binoculars. Dates shown are the 1st of month with tick marks for
each day.
Is in
Aquarius, shining at a dim +7.9
Use
the above chart to locate Neptune through a telescope.Dates shown
are the 1st of month with tick marks for each day.
Ophiuchids are active from 19th May through July with two maximums occurred on the 10th and 20th June. Activity is low when a Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) of 5 may be seen. The shower is poorly placed for viewing from the UK and best viewed from the southern hemisphere. The radiants are at RA 17h56m Dec. -23° and RA 17h20m Dec. -20°.
Alpha-Cygnids are active during during July and August but the shower is weak with two peaks on the July 21st and August 21st. They appear to radiate from a point in the sky near to Deneb in Cygnus. The radiant position is R.A. 21h00m Dec. +48°
Capricornids is another weak shower with three nights of maximum activity when up to 5 meteors per hour in ideal conditions may be seen. Dates of maximum are 8th,15th and 26th. Bright yellow-blue coloured meteors may be seen. Radiant is at R.A. 20h44m Dec. -15°.
Perseids become active from 23rd July and so some may be seen from this date on. The shower has a maximum on the 12th August at 15h UT when 80 per hour in ideal conditions may be seen. These meteors can be bright and leave persistent trains. The radiant is RA 03h04m Dec. +58°
Date Time ZC# SAO# Magnitude. P.A. Type of event. Notes
There are
no bright events visible this month!
Times
are UT as seen from IoMAS Observatory. Start to observe these
events about 20 minutes before the above times to allow for
differences in your latitude and longitude. This will give you
time to locate the star that is about to be occulted.
ZC = Zodiacal Catalogue. Type of Event DD = disappearance at dark limb, RD = Reappearance at dark limb. RB = Reappearance on bright limb. PA = Position Angle around limb of the Moon, where 0 degrees is north, 90 degrees is east, 180 degrees is south and 270 degrees is west.
This
star drops from magnitude +2.1 to +3.4 in about 5 hours. There are
no suitable events visible from the Isle of Man this month!
Click
Here for star chart.
It may be seen during the first few days of July but is rather close to the sun and will be setting soon after sunset in Auriga. It is on the far side of the sun and moving south and will become better placed for observation from the southern hemisphere.
The international Space Station crosses the Manx skies on a regular basis. For the latest information on when the ISS is due to pass across the sky over the next ten days, visit the link below.
Noctilucent
Clouds are luminous clouds that appear normally at the
northern horizon at around local midnight. They have
been observed for at least 125 years but of late, they have
become more common, brighter and seen from latitudes
much further south than normal. They have been seen from the
end of July this year.
For the latest updates on observations for 2010, click on this link: NLC Sightings
Bibliography for Manx Night Skies
The Handbook of the British
Astronomical Association 2010. BAA. 2009
2010 Yearbook of
Astronomy. Patrick Moore. Macmillan. 2009
Philip's Stargazing
2010. Heather Couper & Nigel Henbest. Philip's.
2009
Observer's Handbook Meteors. Neil Bone. Philip's
1993
Atlas of the Night Sky. Storm Dunlop. Collins.
2005
Constellations. Josef Klepešta and Antonin Rükl.
Hamlyn. 1979
Brilliant Stars. Patrick Moore. The Book People
Ltd. 1996
Complete Guide to Stargazing. Robin Scagell.
Phillip's. 2006
Turn Left at Orion. Guy Consolmango and Dan M.
Davis. Cambridge U.P. 2008
Norton's 2000.0 Edited Ian Ridpath.
Longman Scientific & Technical. 1989
Planetary data derived from
Guide 8
Software.
Picture graphics derived from Stellarium
and Guide 8 Software.