Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday June 26 through Sunday July 2.
The moon is at first quarter early on Monday and will reach full next week, so we will have a waxing gibbous moon for all of this week.
Venus continues to shine brightly in the west at sunset and is setting at 11:10 p.m. If you look at Venus with binoculars or a telescope you will see that it is now only one third illuminated.
Mars is above and slightly to the left of Venus and is setting 11:25 p.m. Mars is now at 4.2 arcseconds in size and magnitude 1.7, down from 17.2 arcseconds and -1.8 magnitude back when it was at its closest to Earth in December 2022.
Saturn is rising at midnight and Jupiter follows at 2:55 a.m.
Mercury is in superior conjunction with the sun on July 1 when it will move behind the sun from the Earth’s point of view. After conjunction, Mercury will begin to appear in our early evening skies over the next few weeks.
In space anniversaries this week, Monday June 26 marks 45 years since the launch of Seasat 1, the first satellite designed for monitoring the Earth’s oceans and oceanographic phenomena. The satellite suffered an electrical short a little over three months after launch which ended the mission. Seasat remains in geocentric orbit.
Public viewing at the 16-inch reflector on top of the Physics, Math, and Astronomy building is on Wednesday nights from 9:00 to 10:30 p.m. this summer. PMA is located on the southeast corner of Dean Keeton and Speedway. Take the elevator to the 17th floor and follow the signs to the telescope.
There will be no public viewing at the Painter Hall Telescope this summer. Friday and Saturday night viewing at Painter Hall will resume in the fall semester.
All events are free and open to all ages and no reservations are required. Note that viewing times and availability change throughout the year so please check the schedule before planning a visit. Observing events are weather permitting. Please call 512-232-4265 for weather cancellation information, which is updated 30 to 45 minutes before the scheduled viewing start time.
Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers Report.
