All times listed are in Central Daylight Time.
For more information, call the Museum at 337-291-5544 and ask to speak with someone in the planetarium. Some of these objects and events can be seen during Planetarium star parties — check the Museum web site to see a list of star parties and other events hosted by the Planetarium. Reminders of some of these events will appear on the Lafayette Science Museum Facebook page as the dates approach.
Throughout July: Mars, Saturn, and the bright reddish star Antares make an attractive triangle of bright objects in the southwestern to southern sky during this period, two red objects and a faintly creamy-colored one. Mars will be the brightest of the three and Antares will be the faintest (but still quite prominent). Watch the triangle shrink and change shape as the two planets orbit the sun, a nice demonstration of planetary motion.
July 4: Earth reaches aphelion, the farthest point from the sun in its orbit, at 11:24 a.m.
July 7: The bright star near the moon tonight is Regulus.
July 8: The bright object by the moon tonight will be Jupiter, and they should quite pretty together in the same
binocular view.
July 14: The bright object by the moon tonight will be Mars.
July 15: The bright object by the moon tonight will be Saturn.
July 15 – 17: This is a good time to start looking for Venus very low in the west-northwest in evening twilight. It
will look like a very bright star point. During these three days immediately to Venus’ right will be Mercury, although the sky may be too bright to see Mercury without binoculars or a telescope. Telescope observers should use their lowest magnification to find both planets in the same view! The best night for this will be the 16th, but some telescopes may have a wide enough view to show them on the nights before and after that.
July 29: As the crescent moon rises shortly before 3 a.m., binocular and telescope observers will see it apparently among the stars of the Hyades star cluster. From then until twilight brightens about 5:30 a.m. observers may see several occultations, when the moon temporarily blocks individual stars from view. The highlight will be shortly after 4:30 a.m. when Acadiana observers will see the moon occult the bright star Aldebaran. The star will reappear about 5:30 when twilight may make reappearance hard to see. The exact times will vary a few minutes depending on where in Acadiana you are.
August 4: Look for Mercury beside the thin crescent moon in the west tonight as the sky darkens.
August 5: The very bright object by the moon tonight will be Jupiter, and they will look very nice together in the
same binocular view.
August 8 – 30: As the stars come out in the evening, look low in the west for brilliant Venus and nearly as bright
Jupiter. The brightest thing between and near them will be Mercury. Watch them each night as they change positions relative to each other as they orbit the sun, while at the same time getting lower in the twilight sky as Earth orbits the sun.
August 11: Look for the moon tonight near the bright Mars-Saturn-Antares triangle. Visit our web site at www.lafayettesciencemuseum.org .
Facebook members can visit the Lafayette Science Museum Fan Page!
433 Jefferson Street, Lafayette, LA 70501, 337-291-5544, www.lafayettesciencemuseum.org
August 11/12: The Perseid Meteor Shower peaks tonight, with best viewing after the moon sets about 1 a.m. This meteor shower has become quite complex with several sub-peaks, but the traditional one should happen between 3 a.m. and dawn, good for Acadiana viewers. These fairly fast meteors will seem to come from the constellation Perseus, rising higher in the northeast as the night passes. Since the meteors will be seen all over the sky, the best direction to look is somewhere away from the northeast wherever your personal sky appears darkest. Realistic numbers for rural Acadiana observers far from lights would be perhaps 30 meteors per hour, but observers around the edges of towns will see fewer and people in or near city lights will see very few. Basic observing gear includes the unaided eye, a lawn chair, and bug spray!
August 18 —29: Bright Mars will be in the same binocular view with Saturn and the bright star Antares during this time. As the planets orbit the sun, watch Mars appear to pass between Saturn and Antares. As this is happening, Mars will be about 80 million miles from Earth, Saturn will be about 916 million miles away, and Antares will be about 600 light years away (about 3,520,000,000,000,000 or 3.52 quadrillion miles!).
August 23 – 30: As the stars come out look very low in the west for brilliant Venus and Jupiter, with less bright Mercury nearby. During this time, all three will be in the same view in wide field binoculars!
August 27: Look in low the west as the stars come out for brilliant Venus and Jupiter. Use a telescope at lowest power to see both planets plus 4 of Jupiter’s moons in the same telescopic view!
Visit our web site at www.lafayettesciencemuseum.org . Facebook members can visit the Lafayette Science Museum Fan Page!
433 Jefferson Street, Lafayette, LA 70501, 337-291-5544, www.lafayettesciencemuseum.org
