Sunday, July 8, 2012

Sky Guy Viewing ALERT 7-9-12!!!!!

Hey Space Placers!

Tomorrow morning it will be well worth getting up before the Sun to see brilliant Venus and Aldebaran  converge to within one finger-width of one another in the east. Greenish-white Venus and orangish-red Aldebaran will be a nice contrast in the sky with Jupiter and the Pleiades star cluster just above.

If it is cloudy the view will be almost as good on the 10th.

If you have binoculars they will enhance the view nicely and you can see the four main moons of Jupiter if you look closely.

Venus is keeping company with the Hyades star cluster which forms the "V" you see. The star cluster is 153 light years away.

Aldebaran, the "the angry eye of Taurus the Bull", is not really a part of the star cluster as it is 65 light years away. Aldebaran is a red giant star which means it is nearing the end of its stellar life - see my blog of July 7th.

Our heat wave here in DC, MD, VA should end on Monday. Get out and enjoy the view and the coolest part of the day.

Dawn view

Sky & Telescope Diagram

Sky Guy in VA

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