Items Featured In TGP NOMINAL 8.9 - July Skies 2022
Ross Hockham's July Sky Guide:
So first of all we need to talk about the elephant in the sky, the Tau Herculid Meteor Shower.
Which let's be honest was a total unknown with very few people actually predicting what would happen.
Personally, I didn't see any meteors but that was only because The Great British Weather got in the way again
but I know several radio astronomers said they were picking up meteors.
So what was actually seen around the world?
Well the fact they had manage to predict it and that the peak happened precisely around the time they said it would was ingenious but for the everyday general public it seemed to be an average sized meteor shower.
As reported by Sky and Telescope the Tau Herculids fell short of storm calibre with observers in darker areas seeing rates of around 15–20 per hour, on par with a solid performance of the Orionids or Lyrids.
So really a minor meteor shower, which is a shame as it could have been amazing
but you just don’t know with these kind of events.
Sometimes meteor storms come out of know where and give amazing displays
so it's always worth a peek out of your gardens.
So first of all we need to talk about the elephant in the sky, the Tau Herculid Meteor Shower.
Which let's be honest was a total unknown with very few people actually predicting what would happen.
Personally, I didn't see any meteors but that was only because The Great British Weather got in the way again
but I know several radio astronomers said they were picking up meteors.
So what was actually seen around the world?
Well the fact they had manage to predict it and that the peak happened precisely around the time they said it would was ingenious but for the everyday general public it seemed to be an average sized meteor shower.
As reported by Sky and Telescope the Tau Herculids fell short of storm calibre with observers in darker areas seeing rates of around 15–20 per hour, on par with a solid performance of the Orionids or Lyrids.
So really a minor meteor shower, which is a shame as it could have been amazing
but you just don’t know with these kind of events.
Sometimes meteor storms come out of know where and give amazing displays
so it's always worth a peek out of your gardens.
So onto something we know is always on show,
The Sun…. Although its always there shining down on us it can still surprise us
with it suddenly becoming more active against predictions.
There have been more sunspots and larger ones from what we have seen in the UK Astronomy Facebook Group
appearing than last year and it seems our Sun is ramping things up.
Not to mention some awesome flares and solar winds creating strong aurora in the UK.
Maybe we should get some extra solar scopes, filters and glasses and peer at our Sun Sol through July.
The longest day has past but we are still having to wait for those dark nights
with the Sun setting at around 21:30 at the start of the month.
The planets are starting to rise at a more suitable time for viewing with Saturn peeking above the horizon around midnight and Jupiter just before 1am with Mars following around 1:30am.
Uranus climbs at 2.15am but is chased by the Sun so will still be a tough spot, 3:20am
and Venus peeks above the horizon followed by Mercury at 4am.
The Sun rises just after at 4:47am so the later planets will be harder to see.
Now before we move on to the highlights of the month here has been a lot of pics and chatting around Noctilucent Clouds. Noctilucent Clouds are burnt up meteors and ice crystals high in the Mesosphere.
that reflect light from the rising or setting Sun.
So keep an eye out for these cool phenomenon 90 to 120mins before Sunrise or after Sunset.
that reflect light from the rising or setting Sun.
So keep an eye out for these cool phenomenon 90 to 120mins before Sunrise or after Sunset.
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On The 4th, we are officially farthest from the Sun.
Which seems a bit crazy, as Summer is the hottest time of year.
In orbit we are at our farthest point but due to Earth's tilt
we are leaning towards the Sun here so you can expect a warmer few months (Hopefully!).
On the night of the 8th, if you have a pair of binoculars or a telescope trained on the Moon, get a good view
of the The Montes Jura (Jura Mountains) being lit up by the Sun and a feature known as the Jewelled handle.
Best seen around 23:00.
On the 10th, The Moon will be close to the red star Antares, known as the false Mars star
because it's colour often fools people that think this super giant is the red planet.
It’s a really cool star to have a peek at due to its colour.
The Full Moon on the 13th will be the closest Full Moon to Earth in 2022.
Although it won't make a lot of difference visually
It will look slightly bigger through a telescope or binoculars
and especially as it rises up from the horizon.
Well worth popping out to see.
On the 15th, look out from 23:00 onwards as the Moon and Saturn rise together above the horizon
The Moon will be to the planet's right with Saturn lowly moving up and over it
as the morning moves on and the sky rotates.
On the 19th, it's Jupiter's turn to meet the Moon, with it being directly below it at 3am.
A great sight and also good opportunity for a celestial snap of the two.
From the 21st onwards, the Moon will be out of the way
for deep sky observers to get their gear out and try to spot those fainter objects, even in the Summer skies.
On the 22nd, around 12.30am, The Moon and the red planet Mars rise above the horizon together
along with Uranus which is just to it's left and is pretty close.
Although the Moon is close and bright enough to wash it out.
It maybe worth a peek to see if you can see it through a scope.
On the 23rd, The Moon meets the awesome M45 Pleiades cluster of bright blue stars in the early morning.
This will look really nice with a crescent Moon and cluster of baby stars.
25th – 26th As Jupiter rises, the Moon Ganymede will be transiting across the planet
with IO’s shadow slightly higher to its left.
With the Moon joining it's shadow across Jupiter around midnight until around 3am.
In the mornings of 26th – 27th Venus will be close to the thin crescent Moon
making a lovely morning welcome to those early birds.
There is a minor meteor shower this month called the Southern Delta Aquariids
They are visible from mid July to mid August each year but with peak activity on 28 or 29 July.
The radiant rises from midnight and is in the constellation Aquarius (The Water Bearer)
just to the left of Saturn with around 16 meteors per hour
but the moon will be out of the way so a good chance to see some.
Last but not least, on the 30th, Europa’s shadow moves across Jupiter from 00.30am
with the Moon joining it at 3am just as the shadow slips off of the other side of the planet.
Naked Eye Object Of The Month:
Our naked eye object of the month is the star Polaris, the north star
which contrary to belief is not actually the brightest in the sky.
It is actually a yellow supergiant around 5 times the mass of our own sun and if we look closer is a triple star system.
But what makes it special in our skies is that it is perfectly in line with Earths axis
meaning it stays still in the sky whilst all the other star spin round it.
So why not have a look give it an hour then pop out and see where the stars have moved to
draw their position or if you have a smartphone or iPad you can download an app called Nightcap Pro
that allows you to pop your phone down facing up and will record the sky over a few hours
and create a star trail for you to see how they move around the north star.
Binocular Object Of The Month:
The Coat Hanger is a random grouping of stars located in the constellation Vulpecula (The Fox)
but is actually nearer Sagitta (The Arrow).
It is a line of blue stars with a hook created by two yellow and another blue star thus creating an upside down coat hanger.
It can be found by slowly sweeping along an imaginary line from the bright star Altair toward the even brighter star Vega.
About one third of the way toward Vega you should spot this cool shape of stars.
Telescope Object Of the Month:
On the 9th, the ray crater Kepler will be especially visible tonight for you to see
This is where stuff has bee ejected during a meteor strike on the Moon
creating debris from the crater out across the surface of the Moon.
Kepler crater can be found mid left of the Moon in the Mare Insularum
and is named after the 17th century German astronomer and Mathematician Johannes Kepler.
Kepler is one of the most notable prominent ray craters and the rays extend for well over 300 kilometers
overlapping the rays from other craters.
If you look closely you may see one of the rays from another crater called Tycho.
Actually intersecting this crater drawing a curved line towards it.
Look slightly to Kepler's right and you will see another crater named after a famous Astronomer, Copernicus crater.
Astrophotography Object Of The Month:
NGC 6820 is a small reflection nebula near the open cluster NGC 6823 in the constellation Vulpecula (The Fox).
The reflection nebula and cluster are part of a large faint emission nebula.
The open star cluster NGC 6823 is about 50 light-years across and lies about 6,000 light-years away.
The center of the cluster formed about two million years ago and is dominated in brightness
by a host of bright young blue stars.
Outer parts of the cluster contain even younger stars.
In photos you can see what looks like fingers of dust clouds jutting out into the nebula, in fact it almost looks mountainous in shape so a great little astrophotography target to try and capture.
NGC 6820 is a small reflection nebula near the open cluster NGC 6823 in the constellation Vulpecula (The Fox).
The reflection nebula and cluster are part of a large faint emission nebula.
The open star cluster NGC 6823 is about 50 light-years across and lies about 6,000 light-years away.
The center of the cluster formed about two million years ago and is dominated in brightness
by a host of bright young blue stars.
Outer parts of the cluster contain even younger stars.
In photos you can see what looks like fingers of dust clouds jutting out into the nebula, in fact it almost looks mountainous in shape so a great little astrophotography target to try and capture.
UK Astronomy @ Space Store Didcot:
UK Astronomy's Mobile Planetarium Fundraiser:
SW3 Chelsea, London:
Various Videos:
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