Celestial Highlights for July
Celestial Highlights for July
One of the most exciting things
to see in the night sky is when something moves or changes. The
early part of this
month offers an excellent opportunity to see the planet Mars
moving from night to night.
Starting on the first of July Mars
can be found low in the west-southwest sky just after sunset,
just above the bright
star Regulus in Leo. Up and to the left of Regulus and Mars, sits the
ringed planet
Saturn.
As the days go by Mars will move right past Regulus on it's way
to conjunction with Saturn.
On July 5th Mars will squeeze itself right in between Saturn and Regulus to form a celestial line of objects in the western sky. As an added bonus on July 5th, the trio of Saturn, Mars and Regulus will be joined by an exquisite waxing crescent moon. This group of bright objects will be a real celestial sampler which will include two planets, a bright star and the Moon. Wow! Mars will continue moving night to night until it passes Saturn on July 10th when it will be in conjunction with the ringed planet.
If you need help finding any of the planets or constellations, come to one of our Wisconsin's Summer Skies star shows and we will show you how its done. For showtimes check out our show schedule.
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