MayorGalvan: GALVANISM

Saturday, July 18, 2015

GALVANISM

Don’t miss moon, Venus, Jupiter on July 18 
 Tonight – July 18, 2015 – a spectacular sky show in the west after sunset! The first three celestial bodies to pop out at evening dusk are the moon, Venus and Jupiter. View the brilliant trio at nightfall because all three worlds will sink below the western horizon by early-to-mid evening. 
 
It’ll be an especially close pairing of the moon and Venus after sunset July 18 as seen from North America. From far-eastern longitudes – such as in eastern Asia, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand – the moon and Venus will be closer together after sunset July 19. No matter where you are on the globe, these three will appear close to each other and easy to see. Try watching on both July 18 and July 19! 
 
The more northerly your latitude, the sooner that Venus and Jupiter set after sunset. 
 
Watch for them as soon as the sun goes down. 
 As seen from North America, these two worlds will easily fit within a single binocular field of view – or possibly, even in the same field of view through a low-powered telescope. 
 
As seen from most of the globe, the moon swings a touch south of Venus. 
 
The moon will actually occult – cover over – Venus during the daylight hours on July 19 in northeast Australia, New Guinea, Melanesia and French Polynesia and the South Pacific Ocean. For the most part, this occultation happens above the South Pacific Ocean, so few people on land will be able to view this particular lunar occultation of Venus firsthand. 
 
But wait … there’s more. As your sky darkens, stars will begin to pop into view. The bright star near Venus, Jupiter and the moon this weekend is Regulus, Heart of the Lion in the constellation Leo, as shown on the chart below. 
 From everywhere worldwide, Venus and Jupiter have been dazzling over these past few months. Now these two worlds are sinking closer to the sunset daily. They’ll disappear from the evening sky by late July or early August. 
 
Watch these two brilliant beauties now, while the opportunity is still at hand. 
 
Bottom line: Almost everyone worldwide can see a gorgeous threesome – the moon, Venus and Jupiter – adorning their western sky at dusk and nightfall on July 18, 2015. Don’t miss ’em. 
http://earthsky.org/tonight