Wits Planetarium July 2020 [email protected] ______________________________________________________________________________ In this newsletter: • Shows • Moon Phases • Sunrise/set and moonrise/set for Johannesburg • Astronomical Events • Eclipse • Naked Eye Planets • Southern Delta Aquariids Meteor Shower • Word Search – Moons of Jupiter Shows Currently, ALL SHOWS are SUSPENDED until further notice due to the Covid-19 pandemic and national state of disaster. Moon Phases Full Moon: 5 Jul Last Quarter: 13 Jul New Moon: 20 Jul First Quarter: 27 Jul Sunrise/set and Moonrise/set for Johannesburg – July 2020 Date Day Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset h m h m h m h m 1 Wed 06:56 17:28 14:21 02:52 2 Thu 06:56 17:28 15:06 03:56 3 Fri 06:56 17:28 15:56 05:01 4 Sat 06:56 17:29 16:51 06:04 5 Sun 06:56 17:29 17:49 07:04 6 Mon 06:56 17:30 18:49 07:58 7 Tue 06:56 17:30 19:47 08:46 8 Wed 06:56 17:30 20:44 09:29 9 Thu 06:56 17:31 21:39 10:06 10 Fri 06:55 17:31 22:31 10:40 11 Sat 06:55 17:32 23:22 11:12 12 Sun 06:55 17:32 --:-- 11:43 13 Mon 06:55 17:33 00:13 12:14 14 Tue 06:55 17:33 01:04 12:45 15 Wed 06:54 17:34 01:56 13:20 16 Thu 06:54 17:34 02:50 13:58 Page 1 of 6 Date Day Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset h m h m h m h m 17 Fri 06:54 17:35 03:46 14:40 18 Sat 06:53 17:35 04:43 15:29 19 Sun 06:53 17:35 05:41 16:23 20 Mon 06:53 17:36 06:37 17:22 21 Tue 06:52 17:36 07:30 18:25 22 Wed 06:52 17:37 08:19 19:30 23 Thu 06:52 17:37 09:04 20:34 24 Fri 06:51 17:38 09:45 21:37 25 Sat 06:51 17:38 10:23 22:40 26 Sun 06:50 17:39 11:01 23:42 27 Mon 06:50 17:39 11:39 --:-- 28 Tue 06:49 17:40 12:20 00:45 29 Wed 06:49 17:40 13:03 01:48 30 Thu 06:48 17:41 13:50 02:51 31 Fri 06:47 17:41 14:42 03:54 Data calculated using MICA, US Naval Observatory Astronomical Events – July 2020 Date Day Time Event 1 Wed 04:45 Mercury Inferior Conj. Venus: 34.3° W 4 Sat 05:18 Moon Descending Node 16:59 Aphelion: 1.0167 AU (Earth farthest from Sun 152,096,155 km) 5 Sun 03:37 Moon South Dec.: 24.1° S 06:30 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse 06:44 Full Moon 23:37 Moon close to Jupiter: 1.9° N 6 Mon 10:45 Moon close to Saturn: 2.6° N 11 Sat 14:17 Venus close to Aldebaran: 1° N 21:36 Moon close to Mars: 2.2° N 12 Sun 21:27 Moon Apogee: 404,200 km 13 Mon 01:29 Last Quarter 14 Tue 09:03 Jupiter Opposition 17 Fri 09:26 Moon close to Venus: 3.4° S 18 Sat 14:33 Moon Ascending Node 19 Sun 13:51 Moon North Dec.: 24.1° N 20 Mon 19:33 New Moon 23:33 Saturn Opposition 22 Wed 16:59 Mercury Elongation: 20.1° W 25 Sat 06:54 Moon Perigee: 368,400 km 27 Mon 14:32 First Quarter 23:08 Delta Aquarid Shower: ZHR = 20 31 Fri 11:32 Moon Descending Node Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA's GSFC) Page 2 of 6 Eclipse 5 July Type of Eclipse: Penumbral Lunar Eclipse Time (SAST): 5:07 a.m. - 7:52 a.m. Visible from: Americas, southwestern Europe and Africa Naked Eye Planets Mercury: Mercury reaches inferior conjunction (between the sun and earth) on 1 st July before moving to the eastern morning sky. Venus: Venus is above the eastern morning horizon in the constellation of Taurus the bull. It will be within 1° of the star Aldebaran on 11 July (see image below). Page 3 of 6 Mars: In the beginning of July Mars rises at 11:33 p.m. and by months end at 10:45 p.m. If you have a suitable sized telescope you will notice the southern pole cap shrink in the following weeks. Jupiter: Reach opposition on 14 July, it will be visible all night. Even a small telescope will show its main two cloud bands. Saturn: Saturn rises about 30 minutes after Jupiter. It will reach opposition on 20 July when it will become an all-night object. Moon 4 – 6 July at 10 p.m. Venus 11 July at 5 a.m. Image: Stellarium Image: Stellarium Page 4 of 6 Southern Delta Aquariids Active from: 21 July – 29 August Maximum: 29 July Constellation: Aquarius - the water carrier Aquarius as depicted by Johann Bayer in his Uranometria (1603). Source image provided by www.RareMaps.com — Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps Inc. The Delta Aquariids is best viewed from areas away from the city lights. The best time is between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. The shower originated from the breakup of what are now the Marsden and Kracht Sungrazing comets. We might see between 20 – 25 meteors per hour. Radiant of Delta Aquariids as on 29 July 2020 at 10 p.m. Image: Stellarium Page 5 of 6 Word Search Search up, down, forward, backward, and on the diagonal to find the hidden words. Moons of Jupiter P A D C R T J D A N U Y L L G D V C S N Z A Y X A N B E S A H B N A S O P F A D X V D F G L P D B N K A L Y K E E H R A V B E U R Y D O M E H A L L O K Q R M C V G G H L D R F U O W M E T I S X B Y X A G W O R L D T E P L A N E T A R I U M C H L R P Z T Z E S D F L U M U J V A D E L C F H A O E D E H H B M M E L A R A O Q R H J N T E J D A N U J X C E D H M E R R D G M N T I S R E V I N U S T I W D B G H C T N W Q E G M E A T E O F E E B M X Z O G E V B I T D M A I O X E W O O T Y P U K S R F G W D H T E H K B Y R Q T B K L P S F H W R O O M S E H M E M B B M G J S K H C M D I N Y D V O V Q K I Z A U K L X E J A M A T W F C L A S I V B P I A S D V P G L K F R S R B E A G I L E I C D J K A L O S V O N H H D L P A R C I V T A A C W T S T A E H S S R B D A I A P I T F T W R C X X A H Q P B A T B V I G F H L L N D X D N U F N Q V S E W K J M R H Z E X N Y Y O S F Y V E S T N A L P M K A K B O G D H R K E Y D P A S I T H E E Y F B I Y N A D K J Q M E C F K G S E D E M Y N A G D Q S E E A X A D T N F A D B M O B L U E M O O N D N T R T Z C L R K A L L I C H O R E A S A T U R N R O C S A L G N D G J C Y L L E N E E G U K M Q R Y J X R C Y J N D G X D E F A S E M O N I R E Y A T S P E R T Z W T N I D B T I M K Y A V T Y W U C H O A R U B ADRASTEA CYLLENE EURYDOME KALE MNEME AITNE ELARA GANYMEDE KALLICHORE ORTHOSIE AOEDE ERINOME HARPALYKE KALYKE PASITHEE CALLISTO EUPORIE HEGEMONE LEDA THEBE CARPO EUROPA IO METIS THEMISTO Enjoy Clear skies Constant Page 6 of 6 .