Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday August 15th through Sunday August 21st.
The moon is at third quarter on Thursday night, so we’ll start the week with a waning gibbous moon and finish the week with a waning crescent moon.
Mercury continues to move away from the sun after its last conjunction and is setting a little over an hour after the sun. Over in the east, Saturn is rising at 7:55 p.m. at midweek and is still visible most of the night after opposition last week.
Jupiter rises just a little after 10 p.m. this week and is about six weeks from reaching opposition. Mars rises at 12:45 a.m. at midweek. Look for Mars below the Moon on Thursday night into Friday morning. Venus is rising at 5:40 a.m., a little less than an hour and a half before sunrise.
In space anniversaries this week, Saturday August 20th marks 45 years since the launch of the Voyager 2 spacecraft on a mission to study the outer planets. A favorable alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune allowed NASA mission planners to use a gravity assist to steer the spacecraft past all 4 of the giant planets. Voyager 2 flew past Jupiter in 1979, then Saturn in 1981, Uranus in 1986, and Neptune in 1989 and has since continued on what is termed its ‘interstellar mission’ where it continues to explore the environment at the edge of the solar system. Voyager 2 is still the only spacecraft to visit the ice giants Uranus and Neptune although the 2022 Planetary Science Decadal Survey recommended that an orbiter mission to Uranus should be a high priority for the next flagship solar system mission. Concept missions for an orbiter mission to Neptune have been developed but have yet to be chosen for funding.
And 5 years ago, on Sunday the 21st, a tolar solar eclipse passed across the United States and was visible as a partial eclipse here in central Texas. Although we missed out on totality in 2017, we will get two great solar eclipses in the next two years, including a total eclipse on April 8, 2024.
Public viewing on UT campus telescopes has finished for the summer session. Fall semester viewing will start in a couple of weeks. Please check back for details on starting dates and times.
Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers Report.
