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This is the Griffith Observatory Sky Report through August 10th, 2016. Here’s what’s happening in the skies of southern California.
All five bright planets can be seen together in the sky starting about 30 minutes after sunset. Venus is located about 5 degrees above the west-southwest horizon. Five degrees is about the same as the angle made by the thickness of three fingers as seen from arm’s length. To the upper left of Venus, look for Mercury, and beyond Mercury find the brighter planet, Jupiter, in the constellation Leo the Lion. To the south, the bright orange planet is Mars, which moves from Libra the Scales into Scorpius the Scorpion on the 2nd. To the left of Mars is the golden planet Saturn, in Ophiuchus the Snake Bearer. Below Saturn is the glittering orange star Antares, the brightest star of Scorpius.
The waxing crescent moon will appear close to Mercury on the 4th and to Jupiter on the 5th. Use binoculars to see the jagged shadows cast by craters along the moon’s terminator, the dividing line between the day and night sides of the moon. Also look for the “ashen light”, the soft illumination of the otherwise unlit portion of the moon. This glow is sunlight reflected from the earth to the earth-facing portion of the moon’s night side.
Mars and Saturn remain the planets best positioned for telescopic observation. Mars shows an 86-percent illuminated gibbous phase, and the planet appears 12 arcseconds wide, large enough to see some planetary detail through most telescopes when the air is very steady. The northern face of Saturn’s ring system is titled about 26 degrees in our direction, and telescopes can reveal several of Saturn’s many moons. Mars, Saturn, and the moon are currently featured through the public telescopes at Griffith Observatory.
The annual Perseid meteor shower does not reach its peak until the late night of August 11 and early morning of the 12th, but already, morning by morning, activity from the shower is increasing. In the hour before dawn (3:30 a.m. until 4:30 a.m.), an observer in a dark wilderness location, free from artificial light pollution, could see meteor rates increasing from 12 to 40 per hour between the 4th and 10th, while observers in suburbs are more likely to see rates ranging from 4 to 14 meteors per hour over the same period.
Free views of the sun during the day and of the moon, planets, and other celestial objects at night are available to the public in clear weather through Griffith Observatory’s telescopes from Tuesday through Sunday, before 9:30 p.m. Check our website for the schedule. The next free public star party on the grounds of Griffith Observatory, hosted by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, the Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Planetary Society, will take place on Saturday, August 6th, from 2 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. Because of heavy weekend traffic, we advise arriving as early as possible!
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From Griffith Observatory, I’m Anthony Cook. After August 7, I can be reached at griffithobserver@gmail.com.