July 2011 Highlights

Well, we are heading into another month. Prime time to be enjoying cookouts and beaches and all that great stuff. Or at least that's the case for the northern hemisphere. I am off on vacation, so this is a scheduled post this time around. But, at least with these it is pretty easy to schedule. There are plenty of sites to see this month, and it will be plenty warm, so no excuse to not go out and enjoy the night sky! You all know you like a cool summer's night, so let's see what we got:

July 1: New Moon: The Moon will be directly between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from Earth.
            Partial Solar Eclipse: This one will only be visible off the coast of Antarctica. It you see it, I salute your bravery.

July 4: Earth at Aphelion: The furthest distance of the Earth from the Sun, occurs at 15h UT with the distance between the Earth and the Sun being about 152.1 million km, or 1.01674 astronomical units (AU).

July 8: Space Shuttle Atlantis: Scheduled as the final space shuttle launch, Atlantis STS-135 is targeted for 11:26 a.m. EDT. If you are on the east coast of the U.S., you should be able to get a decent glance as it climbs into space, Western Europe should also be able to get a glance too. Being the final launch, I encourage anyone that is able to to go out and watch. It really is something to see a shuttle streak across a stark blue sky.
           First Quarter Moon: The Moon is halfway through the waxing phase, a great time for observing as the shadows provide wonderful contrast.

July 12: Neptune: Completes it's first orbit since discovery in 1846.

July 15: Full Moon: The Moon will be directly opposite the Earth from the Sun and will be fully illuminated as seen from Earth. This moon, in the Native American tradition of naming the full moons throughout the year, is known as the Full Thunder Moon. It gets its name from the prevalence of thunderstorms at this time of year.

July 21: Moon at apogee: The furthest distance of the Moon from the Earth occurs at 23h UT, at a distance of 404,355 km.

July 23: Last Quarter Moon: Halfway through the Moon's waning phase, The next New Moon will be July 1st.

July 28-29: Southern Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower: (active July 18-August 18) Usually an average meteor shower, expect around 20 meteors per hour during it's peak. The meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Aquarius. A thin crescent moon should make for excellent observing. Best observing is to the east after midnight in a dark location.

July 30: New Moon: The Moon will be directly between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from Earth. This is the second new moon of the month, an interesting occasion that occurs just as frequently as the full moon's blue moon. A supposed name for this event is the Black Moon, but there is nothing official.

Posted in Aphelion,Full Moon,Highlights,July,Meteor Shower,Neptune 16 comments