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Pinpoint Pluto in Saggitarius

By Lewis McCool

In History

June 10, 2003 Spirit, the Mars Exploration Rover was launched. Its companion, Opportunity, was launched on July 7, 2003. June 16, 1963 Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to orbit Earth. June 18, 1983 Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space. June 26, 1730 Birth date of French comet hunter Charles Messier, noted for his catalog of fuzzy deep-space objects. June 30, 1908 An asteroid or large meteor entered Earth's atmosphere and exploded over the Tunguska area of Siberia. A pine forest of about 500,000 acres was flattened by the event. July 4, 1054 Light from a supernova reaches Earth and is recorded by Chinese astronomers. The Crab Nebula (Messier 1) is its remnant gas cloud. July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin land on the moon. July 20, 1976 The U.S. probe Viking 1 sends back the first photos from the surface of Mars.

Moon Phases

First quarter June 10, 9:04 a.m.; July 9, 10:35 p.m. Full June 18, 11:30 a.m. (Strawberry Moon); July 18, 1:59 a.m. (Buck Moon) Last quarter June 26, 6:10 a.m.; July 25, 12:42 p.m. New July 2, 8:19 p.m.

Spending time near Benson, Ariz., recently, I was amazed by the number of astronomy-related facilities in the area. Among them are Kitt Peak National Observatory, Mount Graham International Observatory, Aker Observatory, Whipple Observatory, Flandrau Observatory and Planetarium, Stewart Observatory and Mirror Lab, University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Lab, and the Vega-Bray Observatory, all within an easy drive of Tucson.

Most, if not all, of these facilities offer some opportunities for public involvement, though not all offer nighttime viewing opportunities.

Traveling east or west does little (or nothing) to alter our view of the night sky, but being several hundred miles south of the Four Corners delivers a slightly different aspect with the northern circumpolar constellations hanging closer to the horizon and a few southern constellations peeking up in the opposite direction.

For those of you with good telescopes who like a challenge, the solar system's former ninth planet - now dwarf planet - Pluto will be closest to Earth this year on June 19, only a little more than 2.8 billion miles away. A day later, it'll reach opposition, rising at sunset and setting at sunrise, ideally positioned for viewing in Sagittarius in the southern sky. Of course, at magnitude 13.9, it'll be hard to know what you're looking at.

The New Horizons spacecraft is en route to Pluto and crosses Saturn's orbit on June 8. It will arrive in Pluto's vicinity in 2015.

Thirty years ago on June 22, Jim Christy discovered Pluto's companion, Charon. Charon is more than half the size of Pluto. The two are separated by only 12,000 miles. If seen from Pluto, Charon would appear 50 times larger than our moon appears to us.

You won't have any trouble finding Jupiter (magnitude minus 2.6), also in Sagittarius. It's relatively low in the southern sky, so the dense atmosphere will degrade the view in telescopes a bit. Still, Jupiter is always worth a look. It reaches opposition on July 9. The best view will be around midnight or 1 a.m.

Saturn and Mars are hanging out with Leo the Lion and will be in conjunction on July 10. The odd couple will appear less than one degree apart. Saturn, at magnitude 0.75, is brighter than Mars (magnitude 1.7). Look for them low on the western horizon after sunset. For a couple of weeks prior to its rendezvous with Saturn, Mars plays tag with the bright star Regulus. On July 1, the two (of almost identical magnitude) will be less than a degree apart.

Mercury reaches its greatest western elongation on July 1, meaning it will appear as far to the west of the sun as it gets (22 degrees). To find it, look low in the eastern sky before sunrise. At magnitude 0.5, it won't be very bright. It rises at 4:36 a.m. on the 1st and should be visible by 5 a.m. The bright stars Capella and Aldebaran will be slightly higher to the left and right of Mercury respectively.

Earth is farthest from the sun this year on July 4. We will be 94.5 million miles from our star.

Venus is lost in the sun's glare. It will return as the "Evening Star" in August.