Skywatch Line for Monday June 30th and Tuesday July 1st, written by Joe Slomka
This is the Skywatch Line for Monday June 30th and Tuesday July 1st written by Joe Slomka.
The Sun sets at 8:38 PM; night falls at 10:53. Dawn breaks at 3:06 AM and ends with sunrise at 5:21.
Leo houses both Moons. Monday’s rises at 10:59 AM, 30° in the West, appears 30 arc-seconds in size, 33% illuminated and sets at 11:57 PM; Mars is found 2° from the Moon. Tuesday, the Moon rises at 12:03 PM, same size and 36% lit; one hour before sunrise, the Pleiades, Uranus, Venus and Hyades appear in the East. Wednesday the Moon sets at 12:05 AM.
Mercury, close to the western horizon, rises at 8:29 AM, zero brightness, 7 arc-seconds, highest at 3:47 PM, 21° high, 46% lit sets at l1:04 PM; Monday, Mercury is at Greatest Elongation 26° and begins deceasing. Mars slowly shrinks in Leo, rises at 11:20 AM, 1st magnitude, 5 arc-seconds, 3° highest at 5:56 PM, 93% lit and sets at 12:23 AM.
Asteroid 4Vesta resides in southern Virgo, rises at 4:07 PM, highest at 7:43 PM, 7th magnitude, 95% lit and sets at 3:23 AM.
Western Venus and Uranus share Taurus. Venus rises at 3:02 AM, blazes minus 4th magnitude, 19 arc-seconds, highest at 10:54 AM, 2° high, 64% lit and sets at 5:58 PM. Uranus rises at 3:02 AM, shines 6th magnitude, 3 arc-seconds, highest at 11:09 AM, 2° high, and sets at 6:25 PM.
Southeastern Saturn and Neptune team up. Saturn rises at 1:36 AM, 1st magnitude, 18 arc-
seconds, 26° highest at 7:29 AM and sets at 1:23 PM. Neptune rises at 1:25 AM, 8th magnitude, 2 arc-seconds, highest at 7:29 AM, 27° high and sets at 1:26 PM.
Those with large telescopes see Dwarf Planet Pluto which rises in Southern Capricornus at 11:15 PM, 14th magnitude, 0.10 size, highest at 3:45 AM, 24° and sets at 8:11 AM.
About 7:15 AM, on June 30, 1908, a bright object roared out of the sky and exploded over Siberian forest. The resulting blast knocked people off their feet 70 kilometers away. Night skies were so bright that one could read a newspaper at midnight. Barometers around the world registered the blast wave. Monday is the 117th anniversary of the Tunguska Event.
The region, near the Tunguska River, was so remote that it took years for word to arrive at Moscow. Twenty years later, scientist Leonid Kulik led an expedition. He witnessed forest devastated for miles, trees felled in a radial pattern from a central area. Suspecting a meteor, the expedition dredged the swamp to no avail.
Thanks to microscopic traces, we now know that the object was an asteroid that entered the Earth’s atmosphere and exploded several miles above the surface with a force between three and five times the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb. Research also revealed that the object was smaller than first thought.
In 1947, a large asteroid broke apart and impacted the Kamchatka Peninsula, also in Russia. Pictures exist showing Soviet trucks pulling thousand kilo meteorites from the ground. Today, meteor collectors buy pieces of the Sikote-Alin meteorite, as it is now called.
On February 15th 2013, a 7000-ton asteroid exploded above the Russian town of Chelyabinsk. Like Tunguska, it ravaged town with the force of 30 Hiroshima bombs, damaging buildings and injuring people.
Clear Skies Joe Slomka