Skywatch Line for Monday and Tuesday, August 19th and 20th, written by Joe Slomka
This is the Skywatch Line for Monday and Tuesday, August 19th and 20th, written by Joe Slomka.
The Sun sets at 7:50 PM; night falls at 9:36. Dawn begins at 4:22 AM and ends with the Sun rising at 6:08.
The Moon resides in eastern Aquarius on both nights. Monday’s Moon sets at 5:24 AM, officially a Full Moon at 2:26 PM, rises at 8:11 PM, 2 degrees high, appears 33 arc-seconds in size and sets at 6:56 AM, Tuesday. Tuesday, it rises at 8:35 PM, 7° high, same size and sets at 8:16 AM, Wednesday.
Our sky is short two planets: Mercury is too close to the Sun and Venus is so close to the horizon that it sets minutes after appearing. Dwarf Planet 1Ceres rises at 5:44 PM, shines with 8th magnitude, 0.5 arc-seconds, 15° highest at 9:34 PM, by midnight is only 9°high and sets at 1:28 AM.
Southwestern Saturn is the first to be seen, rising at 8:06 PM, zero magnitude, 19 arc-seconds, highest at 1:46 AM and 8°high by 5 AM. Saturn and Moon rise together in the southeast; by 10 PM, Tuesday, Saturn is about 15 arc-minutes away, making a close approach. Neptune, 11°distant in Pisces, rises at 9:04 PM, 7th magnitude, highest at 3:01 and 34°high. Eastern Taurus houses Uranus, Jupiter and Mars. Uranus rises at 11:23 PM, 5th magnitude, 3 arc-seconds, and at 5 AM 62°high. Jupiter, 21°from Uranus, glimmers with minus 2nd magnitude, 37 arc-seconds, rises at 12:39 AM and 51°high; the Great Red Spot (a giant storm) can be seen at 3:16 AM on Tuesday. Finally, Mars rises at 12:46 AM, zero magnitude, 6 arc-seconds and 46°high; Mars is now in chase mode, by year’s end it will be 8 times brighter and closer to Earth. All these set during daytime.
If we look south at about 10:00 PM, a hazy white band of light seems to stretch from North Pole to horizon. This band is commonly called “The Milky Way” (Latin Via Lactea). Examination of the Milky Way with binoculars or telescopes reveals it to be a continuous band of stars or clouds of dust or gases. Our galaxy is a gigantic pinwheel, with several arms. Planet Earth is located in one of these arms. When we look at the Milky Way, we are seeing through this arm out into space. From Lyra to Sagittarius the Milky Way seems to divide in two; a giant dust cloud causes this “Great Rift”. We observe dust clouds on other galaxies. If we follow the Milky Way to the horizon, we come upon the constellation Sagittarius; the center of our galaxy is located in that constellation, but we cannot see it due to dense star and dust clouds.
Clear Skies Joe Slomka