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Celebrate Canada Day with the Royal Astronomical Society – Sunshine Coast Centre at Hackett Park in Sechelt. We’ll be set up with information, star and moon finders and solar telescopes for safe viewing of the sun, clear skies permitting. Find out about your local club and see how we can help enhance your astronomy experience!
To continue the theme of recent columns, here are some July sky events that can be observed without optical aid:
July 2 — Venus passes 4° north of Aldebaran in the morning sky. J
uly 5 — The first quarter Moon passes between Mars and Spica in evening twilight.
July 7 — The Moon passes 0.4° south of Saturn.
July 13 — Mars passes 1.4° north of Spica.
July 24 — The Moon passes 4° south of Venus. (morning sky)
July 28-29— The Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower peaks.
Around July 4th and 5th, asteroid hunters can set their sights eight degrees above Mars and Spica to see if they can observe asteroids Ceres and Vista as they cross paths in the constellation Virgo. Don’t worry about a collision. They are more than 80 million kilometres apart!
The Summer Triangle asterism is coming into its prime position high above us. As dusk starts to fall, see if you can spot its three major stars as they pop out of the twilight: Deneb in the great constellation Cygnus; brilliant Vega in Lyra; and Altair in Aquila. This asterism can be an important tool in finding your way around the summer sky!
Join us for Astro Cafe on Friday July 18th around 8:30 p.m at Pier 17. Telescopes will be set up on the sea wall weather permitting. Everyone is welcome. Bring your binoculars, your telescopes, or just your enthusiasm! L
ook for our club at these upcoming events: Sunday July13th – Halfmoon Bay Fair Sat /Sun July 26th/27th – Sea Cavalcade Gibsons, Saturday, August 16th Astronomy in the Park, at Porpoise Bay Provincial Park in Sechelt.
N.B. The next regular meeting of the Astronomy Club will be Friday, September 12th. Submitted by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada – Sunshine Coast Centre. www.coastastronomy.ca
