Mars-Saturn-Regulus show takes the stage
The stars and constellations of summer are out of their winter hibernation, and they're waiting for you to spend a warm clear evening with them. Have the bug juice ready.
Without a doubt, the best celestial attraction this month is the Mars-Saturn-Regulus show during the first couple of weeks of July.
The good news is that it's visible in the early evening sky. The bad news is that early evening for stargazing this time of year means you have to stay up past 10 p.m., and if you're an early riser like me because of gainful employment, that's no easy task, but it will be worth it.
Anyway, the Mars-Saturn-Regulus show is easily seen in the low western sky just after evening twilight. The brightest star you see in that part of the heavens is actually the planet Saturn.
During the first week of July, the planet Mars and the moderately bright star Regulus will be just to the lower right of Saturn in a really close celestial embrace, only about a degree apart. Mars, with its distinct reddish glow, is to the upper left of Regulus.
As nice as this show is, it will get even better the second week in July as Mars and Saturn really get into a celestial hug, less than a degree apart on the early evenings of July 10 and 11. Don't miss this, because it's the best planet-to-planet conjunction of 2008!
Saturn and Mars are going to be so close to each other that when you observe them through a small telescope in low magnification you should be able to see both planets in the same field of view. The only problem is that they might appear a little fuzzy. Don't blame your telescope though. Both planets are close to the horizon, and their light has to pass through much more of the Earth's blurring atmosphere.
Also, both planets are just about at their maximum distance from Earth. Mars is 195 million miles away, Saturn is more than 920 million miles away and the star Regulus is more than 400 trillion miles away!
In the eastern heavens, you'll see the prime stars of summer on the rise.
The best way for finding your way around the summer stars is to locate the Summer Triangle, made up of three bright stars, the brightest in each of their respective constellations. You can't miss them. They're the brightest stars in the east right now.
The highest and brightest star is Vega, the bright star in a small faint constellation called Lyra the Harp. The second brightest star on the lower right is Altair, the brightest in Aquila the Eagle. Altair is on the corner of a diamond that outlines the wingspan of the great bird.
The third brightest at the left corner of the summer triangle is Deneb, a star more than 3,000 light-years away. It's also the bright star in the tail of Cygnus the Swan. Cygnus is also known as the Northern Cross, because that's what it really looks like.
Deneb is at the head of the Northern Cross, presently laying on its side as it rises in the east.
In the north, look for the Big Dipper hanging from its handle in the northwestern sky and the fainter Little Dipper standing on its handle with Polaris, the North Star at the end of the handle. Every single thing in the sky, including the sun and moon, appear to revolve around Polaris every 24 hours.
In the low southern sky, there's a bright brick red star called Antares that marks the heart of Scorpio the Scorpion, one of those few constellations that actually resembles what it's supposed to be.
Also rising in the low eastern sky after sunset is a really bright star that's actually the giant of our solar system, the planet Jupiter.
It's at its closest point to the Earth this month, just under 400 million miles.
I'll have much more on the king of the solar system in next week's Skywatch column.
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and is author of the book, "Pennsylvania Starwatch," available at bookstores and at his Web site www.lynchandthestars.com.
