Some highlights for the night sky in July 2004

Thursday 1 July 2004

• Moon is at perigee (closest to Earth)
• Look for Mercury, Mars and Jupiter after sunset
• Cassini spacecraft due for Saturn Orbit Insertion

Friday 2 July 2004

• Full Moon at 7:09 AM EDT
• Look for Mercury, Mars and Jupiter after sunset

Monday 5 July 2004

• Earth at aphelion (furthest in its orbit from Sun)
• Mars is near Beehive

Thursday 8 July 2004

• Saturn is at conjunction
• Mercury passes through Beehive

Friday 9 July 2004

• Last quarter Moon
• Pegasid meteor shower (from 7/7-7/13)

Sunday 11 July 2004

• Mercury near Mars
• Regulus of Leo between Jupiter and Mercury and Mars

Wednesday 14 July 2004

• Moon is at apogee (furthest from Earth)
• Venus near it's brightest (m=-4.5) near crescent Moon before sunrise

Friday 16 July 2004

• Comet 29P Schwassmann-Wachmann is at perihelion
• Mercury closer to Regulus than Mars

Saturday 17 July 2004

• New Moon
• See if you can catch young crescent Moon after sunset

Tuesday 20 July 2004

• Look for crescent Moon between Mercury and Jupiter
• Mars getting closer to horizon after sunset

Saturday 24 July 2004

• First quarter Moon
• Look for Spica just west of quarter Moon

Sunday 25 July 2004

• Mercury near Regulus
• You will need a good horizon view in the west to see this

Sunday 30 July 2004

• Full Moon
• Try to find Pluto with your telescope

Good skywatching resources

• The Messier Objects list
• Abrams Planetarium Skywatcher's Diary (source of the daily events)
• SkyMap software (used to make the maps)
• The Nearest Stars
• The Brightest Stars
• Skymaps dot com (free monthly star maps)
• Planetarium Software
• About the GMU observatory

John Avellone's provided web sites

• FCPS/NOVAC EarthDial Web Cam at TJHSST Planetarium
• EarthDial Project Beta test webpage