Monthly Skywatch

The Old Farmer's Almanac contains 14 months' worth of Skywatch information from our astronomer Bob Berman; as a courtesy to our web visitors, this information for the current and upcoming months is included below.

July 2009

In the predawn east, Venus in Taurus is just below Mars on the 1st; the Red Planet gets higher above Venus as the month progresses. Venus hovers near the waning crescent Moon on the 19th. In the more convenient evening hours, Jupiter rises just as Saturn is about to set, at around 10:30 P.M. at midmonth. The closest Moon of the year occurs on the 21st, as does the longest solar eclipse of the century, a 6.7-minute totality that sweeps over India during its monsoon season before traversing China and entering the Pacific at Shanghai. Earth reaches aphelion, its annual position farthest from the Sun, on the 3rd

August 2009

Rising at around 10:30 P.M., the Moon will spoil the Perseid meteors on the 11th-12th. Jupiter reaches opposition in Capricornus on the 14th, at magnitude -2.4, its brightest, biggest, and closest approach to Earth since the century began. It rises at sunset and is out all night as the sky's brightest "star," until Venus pops up soon before dawn. In the morning sky, Venus in Gemini is now much below Mars; it dangles below the Moon on the 17th and above it on the 18th. Neptune reaches its own opposition on the 17th, but at magnitude 7.8, it will require a telescope for viewing. Watch for the Moon very near the famous red star Antares at nightfall on the 27th.

September 2009

Jupiter is up nicely by nightfall and visible through the early morning hours; it is the sky's brightest "star" between dusk and 3:00 A.M.,and its four large moons and dark-and-yellow stripes of rising and falling gases appear in any telescope. On the 2nd, it is near the Moon. Uranus reaches opposition on the 17th in the dark and lonely western edge of Pisces. At magnitude 5.7, it can just be glimpsed by the naked eye from rural locations. Binoculars bring out its characteristic green color. In the morning sky, Venus now stands only 15 degrees high an hour before sunrise at midmonth. The Moon floats just above Mars on the 13th, near Venus on the 16th and Jupiter on the 29th. Autumn begins with the equinox on the 22nd, at 5:19 P.M.