ROCKINGHAM - July is going to be a big month for fans of astronomy. There are many celestial events spanning across this month.
Highlighting the month is that Mars will be making its closest approach to Earth, with the sun illuminating the red planet. With a telescope, you might be able to make out dark details of its surface. The distance between the two planets will span over 38 million miles. Mars will appear brightest from July 27th to July 30th and its closest approach will be on the 31st. The best time to view will be at midnight.
But before we get to Mars putting us in awe, July 27th and 28th will be the peak nights of the annual Delta Aquarid meteor shower. Comprised of up to 30 meteors per hour, the shower of space rocks will blaze the sky from the constellation of Aquarius. Unfortunately, the moon will be full during these nights, so its illumination will cause you to miss the fainter meteors. However, the brighter ones will no doubt be seen.
A few other events that will be happening - though not for us here in Richmond County - will be a partial solar eclipse and a full blood moon lunar eclipse, both of which will only be visible on the other side of the world.
For the partial solar eclipse, only the southernmost point of Australia and parts of Antarctica will be able to witness this event. The most interesting part of this eclipse is that it will take place on Friday the thirteenth. The next Friday the thirteenth solar eclipse will be in 2080.
As for the lunar eclipse, which will take place just two weeks later, it will only be visible from Europe, Asia, and Africa. This eclipse, however, will be the longest one ever for this century. It will last for over three hours with the totality being an hour and 40 minutes.
While all of these events are happening at the end of the month, here are a few things to check out in the night sky now and throughout the month at midnight. Note that some of these will require a telescope for viewing and you may need to be in total darkness for 20-30 minutes for your eyes to adjust adequately.
Brightest Stars: Polaris, Arcturus, Vega,
Visible Planets: Mars, Pluto, Jupiter, Saturn
Other: Andromeda Galaxy
July 12: Mercury will be at its point of “greatest eastern elongation.” This will be the best time to view the planet as it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the evening. It can be found in the western sky just after sunset.
July 13: The New Moon phase will occur, which makes it the darkest night of the month. Perfect time for stargazing!
