Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday July 8 through Sunday July 14.
The moon is at first quarter on the night of Saturday the 13th, so we’ll have a waxing crescent moon in our early evening skies for most of the week.
Venus is continuing to move away from the Sun after solar conjunction but is still setting just 40 minutes after sunset.
Mercury is also moving away from the sun and towards greatest elongation and is setting an hour and a half after the Sun at midweek.
Saturn is rising at 11:45 p.m. at midweek, with Mars following at 2:50 a.m. Finally, Jupiter is rising at 3:50 a.m. and is now up for nearly three hours before sunrise.
In space anniversaries this week, Tuesday July 9th marks 45 years since Voyager 2 became the fourth spacecraft to fly past the planet Jupiter, just a few months after its twin Voyager 1. After the Jupiter flyby, Voyager 2 continued on to fly past Saturn, and then became the only spacecraft to visit Uranus and Neptune. Voyager 2 is now the second farthest spacecraft from the Sun and continues to send data from the outer edge of the solar system.
And just two days after Voyager’s flyby of Jupiter, Skylab, the US’s first space station, reentered the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean. Because the spacecraft did not burn up quite as fast as expected, some debris reached the ground and crashed into western Australia.
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.
