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Clouds, Jupiter and the celestial summer ahead!!
Hi everyone!
It's been a while since I posted here mainly due to clouds and piles of work! With all this rain there has not been much of a chance to observe. For those of you who have managed to get a glimpse of the night sky then here is a run down of what is happening over the next few weeks.
One question that I frequently get asked is "I saw a bright star/planet last night low down in the east/west etc! What was it?" My answer to this usually varies with the seasons sometimes it might have been Venus which can be extremely bright or sometimes it might be Jupiter or one of the brighter stars that are up. This month though they are both up and very easily seen!! After the Sun has set look out for a VERY bright object in the west, that's Venus. At the moment it is the brightest object in the night sky. If you have a small telescope then pointing it at Venus should reveal it's wonderful crescent phase that it is showing at the moment. We are in for another treat too as in the past few days Saturn has been very close to Venus. (Here's my pic of what it looked like a few days ago http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s189/Willgater/vesat010707.jpg) Look out in the next few days for a much fainter 'star' to the lower right of Venus - that's the planet Saturn. A medium sized amateur telescope should reveal Saturn's rings and perhaps if the conditions permit it's largest moon Titan.
As Venus and Saturn slip below the horizon turn around and look to the South/South East. If it's clear you will be able to see Jupiter. Quite bright but not as much as Venus. Turning a telescope to the planet you should be able to make out the planet's pale disc and perhaps the main salmon coloured cloud belts. If your'e lucky the four largest moons of Jupiter will be around the planet close by, shining like four pin-point stars. Watching these from night to night you will be able to see that they are not always visible. Sometimes a moon goes behind the planet and other times in front where we can't see it. Here's an image from a few weeks back of the Galilean moons http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s189/Willgater/Jupiter220607.jpg.
That's about if for now. I'll post again hopefully with some more news of the sights to see during the middle of the summer.
Best regards,
Will
Will Gater
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