STAR GAZERS SG 1828-5M JULY 9-15, 2018 MOON CONJUNCTION JUNCTION HEY THERE STARGAZERS, I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FOR THE CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY. AND IM JAMES ALBURY DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA AND WERE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND THE SKY. LONG-TIME STAR GAZERS OUT THERE MAY KNOW THAT JAMES GETS VERY EXCITED DURING CONJUNCTIONS. AND HE AUTOMATICALLY STARTS DANCING. WHENEVER THE MOON APPEARS NEXT TO A PLANET, OR TWO OR MORE PLANETS COME TOGETHER, IT'S CALLED A CONJUNCTION. AND THESE ARE SUCH EXCITING ASTRONOMICAL ALIGNMENTS THAT I JUST CAN'T HELP MYSELF. AND WITH THAT INFORMATION, AND THE DREADED ANTICIPATION OF THE DANCE PARTIES TO COME, I HESITATE TO EVEN MENTION THIS BUT YES??? OVER THE PERIOD OF TWO SHORT WEEKS, THE MOON WILL APPROACH ALL FIVE OF THE NAKED-EYE PLANETS. YOU MEAN?
YES, THE MOON WILL PASS NEAR MERCURY, VENUS, JUPITER, SATURN, AND FINALLY MARS! YEP. THAT'S FIVE CONJUNCTIONS BETWEEN (JAMES SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUSTS) OH MY, WELL LET'S HEAD TO THE SKY... (STOP DROP) OH GOOD, YOU'RE ALIVE! OF COURSE, I'M NOT GOING TO LET A LITTLE SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION GET IN THE WAY OF SEEING THE FIVE CONJUNCTIONS BETWEEN JULY 14TH AND 27TH. EXCELLENT! LETS START ON JULY 14TH FOR CONJUNCTION #1. THIS WILL BE THE TOUGHEST OF THE FIVE SINCE WERE DEALING WITH MERCURY HERE. MERCURY NEVER STRAYS FAR FROM THE SUN AND SO YOU CAN ONLY SEE IT JUST, AND I MEAN JUST AFTER SUNSET. LOOK WEST AS THE SUN DIPS BELOW THE HORIZON FOR THE SLIMMEST CRESCENT MOON YOU'LL EVER SEE. JUST BELOW IT IS A TINY DOT. THAT DOT IS THE PLANET MERCURY. CONJUNCTION #2 WILL OCCUR ON THE VERY
NEXT NIGHT. JULY 15TH JUST AFTER SUNSET THE MOON WILL APPROACH THE DAZZLING PLANET VENUS. VENUS AND THE MOON MAKE A LOVELY PAIR IN THE TWILIGHT. BUT KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THEM BECAUSE AS THE NIGHT ROLLS ON, AND THE SUN SETS IN THE WEST, THE MOON WILL GET EVEN CLOSER TO VENUS BEFORE THEY BOTH GO BELOW THE HORIZON. (STOP) NOW WERE FACING SOUTHWEST AT 10:30PM AND YOU CANT MISS SPOTTING JUPITER ABOUT HALFWAY UP IN THE SKY. IT IS INCREDIBLY BRIGHT! JUPITER IS BY FAR THE LARGEST PLANET IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM AND SHINES LIKE A STEADY, CREAM-COLORED STAR. LET'S ADVANCE OUR TIME, DAY BY DAY, NIGHT BY NIGHT. ON JULY 16TH 17TH AND 18TH THE MOON STARTS APPEARING CLOSER TO JUPITER. ON JULY 19TH, ITS CLOSER STILL. AND I FEEL A CONJUNCTION #3 COMING ON! ON JULY 20TH, WE'VE GOT A CONJUNCTION! SO COOL! NOW I KNOW THE MOON AND JUPITER LOOK LIKE THEY'RE CLOSE TOGETHER. BUT THE MOON IS ABOUT 240,000 MILES FROM EARTH, WHILE JUPITER IS A WHOPPING 465 MILLION MILES AWAY. (STOP)
OKAY, TWO MORE CONJUNCTIONS TO GO. WE'RE FACING SOUTH AT 11:30PM. THE FAINTER OF THE TWO PLANETS IN THIS PART OF THE SKY IS ON THE RIGHT. IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE A STEADY, YELLOW-COLORED STAR. IF IT WASN'T ALMOST 850 MILLION MILES AWAY IT WOULD EASILY OUTSHINE ANY OTHER PLANET. THIS FAR-FLUNG PLANET IS SATURN. AND IT MAY NOT LOOK LIKE MUCH TO THE NAKED EYE, BUT IT LOOKS UNBELIEVABLY AWESOME IN A TELESCOPE. DEAN IS SO EXCITED TO SEE SATURN THAT HE ALMOST DANCES! IF WE ADVANCE THE DATE TO JULY 24TH THE MOON COZIES UP NEXT TO SATURN. SO THAT LEAVES CONJUNCTION #5. YES, AND FOR THAT WE NEED TO LOOK AT THAT BRIGHT, REDDISH LIGHT IN THE SOUTHEAST. ITS BRIGHTER THAN MERCURY. BRIGHTER THAN SATURN. BRIGHTER THAN EVEN JUPITER RIGHT NOW. IT IS THE PLANET MARS. MARS IS MAKING ITS CLOSEST APPROACH TO EARTH ON JULY 27, AND THAT MEANS ALL THIS MONTH AND NEXT MONTH, IT WILL LOOK SUPER-BRIGHT IN THE SKY. I'M GLAD YOU MENTIONED JULY 27 BECAUSE ON THAT NIGHT
NO WAY! YES WAY! THE FULL MOON SLIDES OVER AND WILL BE JUST ABOVE THE RED PLANET. SO NOT ONLY WILL MARS BE AT ITS BRIGHTEST, IT WILL HAVE THE FULL MOON NEARBY. YES SIR! (STOP) CLOSE-UP ENDING SO THAT'S FIVE MOON-PLANET CONJUNCTIONS IN 13 NIGHTS OF VIEWING. THE MOON TOUR PASSES BY MERCURY ON JULY 14 VENUS ON JULY 15 JUPITER ON JULY 20 SATURN ON JULY 24... AND MARS ON JULY 27. AND YOU CAN SEE IT ALL WHEN YOU BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP! *************************