The Physics of Fireworks (Synopsis) [Starts With A Bang]

“Celebrate the independence of your nation by blowing up a small part of it.” -The Simpsons

When gunpowder was first invented more than 1,000 years ago by mixing activated carbon (charcoal), sulfur and potassium nitrate together, its first major application was to the development of fireworks. By combining four simple elements – a launch, a fuse, a burst charge and ignitable stars – the most spectacular explosive shows could be produced.

The anatomy of a firework. Image credit: PBS/NOVA Online, retrieved from http://ift.tt/29e6R6Y.

Yet the design of each stage only works with the proper understanding of the science behind it, and in particular, of the physics underlying it all. To get the right height, shape, size and color for your firework, you have to master each component of each stage. And yet, the science enables us to do exactly that!

The altitude, size, and display of different fireworks. Images credit: Oracle Thinkquest (2011); the site was discontinued in 2013 via http://ift.tt/1sIi68L.

Come get the full story on the physics of fireworks in prep for the greatest explosives show in the world!

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/298BfM0

“Celebrate the independence of your nation by blowing up a small part of it.” -The Simpsons

When gunpowder was first invented more than 1,000 years ago by mixing activated carbon (charcoal), sulfur and potassium nitrate together, its first major application was to the development of fireworks. By combining four simple elements – a launch, a fuse, a burst charge and ignitable stars – the most spectacular explosive shows could be produced.

The anatomy of a firework. Image credit: PBS/NOVA Online, retrieved from http://ift.tt/29e6R6Y.

Yet the design of each stage only works with the proper understanding of the science behind it, and in particular, of the physics underlying it all. To get the right height, shape, size and color for your firework, you have to master each component of each stage. And yet, the science enables us to do exactly that!

The altitude, size, and display of different fireworks. Images credit: Oracle Thinkquest (2011); the site was discontinued in 2013 via http://ift.tt/1sIi68L.

Come get the full story on the physics of fireworks in prep for the greatest explosives show in the world!

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/298BfM0

Friday Cephalopod: Obviously, we should have an octopus panel at #CVG2016 [Pharyngula]

The theme of this year’s con is “…and how do we GET there”, which means we really should have a session on octopus locomotion.

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/298xndD

The theme of this year’s con is “…and how do we GET there”, which means we really should have a session on octopus locomotion.

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/298xndD

What’s the harm? Cupping edition [Respectful Insolence]

There are so many ridiculous alternative medicine treatments being “integrated” via “integrative” medicine into medicine, no matter how ridiculous they are, that it’s not only hard to believe, but it’s hard to keep track. Homeopathy is, of course, the most ridiculous, although “energy medicine” definitely gives homeopathy a run for its money in the Department of Stupid. The depressing thing is that most physicians, even “integrative medicine” physicians, know that homeopathy is bunk (at least when they even know what homeopathy is—most think it’s just herbal medicine). However, those same physicians don’t mind naturopathy, thinking it nothing more than—you guessed it—herbal medicine, never realizing that you can’t have naturopathy without homeopathy and that homeopathy is an integral part of naturopathic education and practice. In other words, you can’t embrace naturopathy without embracing homeopathy. Apologists for alternative medicine and “integrative medicine” physicians often ask, “What’s the harm?”

Among the silliest of alternative medicine therapies is something called cupping. Cupping is a prescientific, premodern medical practice based in the philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that involves sticking cups on a patient’s skin under suction n order to make them better. Basically, cupping involves heating the air inside of a cup and placing the inverted cup on some part of the body. Thanks to the wonders of physics, as the air in the cup cools, it contracts and produces a vacuum, which produces suction. (Physics geeks, I know that’s a highly simplified explanation. Just go with it.) As is the case with acupuncture, in TCM it is believed that disease is due to blockages or incorrect flow of qi, which is the TCM equivalent of the “vital force” or “life energy.” Acupuncture posits that by sticking needles into specific points in “meridians” through which qi flows the flow of qi can be unblocked. Cupping is much like acupuncture in that it, too, claims that it unblocks and realigns qi, thereby restoring health.

Proving that no woo goes uninvented anywhere, cupping is not unique to TCM. As has been noted elsewhere, Native Americans throughout North America also used wet cupping as a means of blood letting, although it is unknown how long ago they started the practice, using animal horns. In fact, unlike acupuncture, cupping is truly an ancient practice. The ancient Greeks practiced it, and Hippocrates himself used it. There is documentary evidence that cupping was practiced in ancient Egypt as far back as 1,500 BCE. So, using the appeal to antiquity, cupping must be the greatest thing since sliced bread, which it predates by millennia. Obviously.

There are two forms of cupping. “Wet cupping” involves puncturing the skin before applying the suction cup. (Yes, that’s basically what cupping is, applying a suction cup.) The idea is that this will allow the “poisons” or “toxins” to be sucked out of the body by the cup. Dry cupping omits this step. There are also other methods besides relying on the cooling of heated air to produce suction, such as using a pump to to siphon air out of the cup. These days, glass or clear plastic cups are commonly used, in order to allow monitoring of the skin. Given that, you’d think that harm would be very, very difficult. You’d be wrong.

Witness this story from Australia, Popular treatment known as ‘cupping therapy’ leaves man with seven holes in his back:

A MAN has been left with seven holes on his back after undergoing cupping therapy that went horribly wrong.

The man identified as Li Lin, 63, began taking the treatment every day from May to June in the hope of treating his scapulohumeral periarthritis — more commonly referred to as “frozen shoulder”.

He was told the therapy, which has a history of several thousand years in traditional Chinese medicine, would help with the pain and stiffness and allow him to move freely.

The treatment, known in Chinese as “ba guan”, traditionally uses heated glass cups to create local suction on the patient’s skin, causing circular bruising that is believed to be the result of now mobilised and free-flowing blood.

However, instead of having his condition cured, the man from Chengdu, capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan Province, was left with holes on his back that were essentially very serious, deep burn wounds.

This is what the article is talking about:

I’m a general surgeon. During my residency, I rotated on the burn unit a number o ftimes, during the last of which I was the chief resident there. I know burns. Looking at that picture, I can say that those are some nasty burns, particularly the middle two. They look at least full thickness.

What do I mean by full thickness? Burns, as you might know, are categorized as first, second, and third degree. First degree burns are basically of the sort that just causes redness. Second degree burns are partial thickness, and third degree burns involve the full thickness of the skin. Take a look at that picture again. As a trained general surgeon who has extensive experience with burns, I see burns on Li Lin’s back that can only be described as third degree or full thickness.

How could such burns have come about? Remember, the cups used were almost certainly heated before being placed on Li Lin’s back. However, these wounds probably aren’t thermal burns because the cups usually aren’t heated enough to cause thermal injury, at least if the practitioner is not completely incompetent. A hint of how this could happen is in the story about Li Lin:

Lin said he went for the treatment every day, and his therapist placed the cups in the same position on his back.

After 10 days he reportedly began to notice blisters on his back, but convinced the treatment would cure his aching shoulder, Lin asked his wife to remove the blisters so he could continue the therapy.

Two days before the scheduled end of his treatment, however, Lin started experiencing severe pain on his back and also developed a high fever.

A trip to the doctors then revealed horrifying circular wounds on his back that had started to fester.

The suction from cupping breaks capillaries, which is why not infrequently there are bruises left in the shape of the cups afterward. Think of it as a hickey, which is basically what cupping is: Making hickeys without the fun part. If you repeatedly injure the same area of skin over time, the way the TCM practitioner did to Li Lin by placing the cups in exactly the same place over and over again, the skin there can actually die. In a burn, the skin dies due to fire, but anything that kills the outer layers of skin (the epidermis and dermis) can look and behave like a burn. Lin is not entirely innocent there; he started to get blisters, and a blister is a sign of a second degree burn, now more commonly described as partial thickness burn because it involves the partial thickness of the dermis. In other words, it was an indication that significant injury had occurred, and continuing the cupping the way he did could well have turned a partial thickness burn into a full thickness burn. Given that infection of the burn is the most common (and potentially deadly) complication in patients with major burns, it’s not surprising that Li Lin’s burns got infected. He’s lucky he didn’t become septic.

Oh, wait. He did. His high fever was almost certainly due to sepsis from burn wound infection.

You’re probably thinking: So what? This is just China and maybe a few New Age Gwyneth Paltrow types in the US and Europe. Would that it were just that! Cupping is showing up everywhere, from “integrative” medicine programs in academic medical centers to our very own Department of Defense:

The Army has been using acupuncture to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, despite a lack of evidence that it works. And now it is hiring acupuncturists for its pain clinic at Fort Sam Houston at an annual salary of $68,809 to $89,450. The job description says the candidate will “offer a full array of the most current and emerging evidenced based approaches in integrative medicine for patients with acute and chronic pain who have not responded well to conventional treatment modalities.”

One could argue that acupuncturists have nothing “evidence-based” to offer in the first place, but what is really alarming are the duties listed for the position. They include things acupuncturists are clearly not trained to do, like prescribing orthotics and braces and counseling patients on nutrition. Worse, the duties include providing cupping, moxibustion, and visualization techniques, none of which are effective and two of which directly injure patients. Cupping is the application of glass bulbs filled with heated air to the skin. It creates a vacuum as the air cools, sucking up wads of skin into the bulbs and leaving ugly bruises. Moxibustion involves burning mugwort on or near the skin and can cause burns and permanent scars (and does so deliberately in some forms of moxibustion).

Clearly, our soldiers suffering from PTSD deserve better. They deserve real medicine.

Cupping is nothing more than an ancient medical practice based on a prescientific understanding of the body and disease, much like bloodletting and treatments based on the four humors. As the case of Li Lin shows, it’s all risk for no benefit. It has no place in modern medicine, or at least shouldn’t. After all, we don’t still believe in the four humors that Hippocrates and ancient “Western” medicine invoked for many hundreds of years. TCM is based on much the same concepts, just with different names, substituting, for example, the Five Elements for the Four Humors and attributing disease to imbalances in them, just as ancient Western physicians attributed disease to imbalances in the four humors. Yet “integrative medicine” rejects one and embraces the other when it should be rejecting them both.

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/29gr3ng

There are so many ridiculous alternative medicine treatments being “integrated” via “integrative” medicine into medicine, no matter how ridiculous they are, that it’s not only hard to believe, but it’s hard to keep track. Homeopathy is, of course, the most ridiculous, although “energy medicine” definitely gives homeopathy a run for its money in the Department of Stupid. The depressing thing is that most physicians, even “integrative medicine” physicians, know that homeopathy is bunk (at least when they even know what homeopathy is—most think it’s just herbal medicine). However, those same physicians don’t mind naturopathy, thinking it nothing more than—you guessed it—herbal medicine, never realizing that you can’t have naturopathy without homeopathy and that homeopathy is an integral part of naturopathic education and practice. In other words, you can’t embrace naturopathy without embracing homeopathy. Apologists for alternative medicine and “integrative medicine” physicians often ask, “What’s the harm?”

Among the silliest of alternative medicine therapies is something called cupping. Cupping is a prescientific, premodern medical practice based in the philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that involves sticking cups on a patient’s skin under suction n order to make them better. Basically, cupping involves heating the air inside of a cup and placing the inverted cup on some part of the body. Thanks to the wonders of physics, as the air in the cup cools, it contracts and produces a vacuum, which produces suction. (Physics geeks, I know that’s a highly simplified explanation. Just go with it.) As is the case with acupuncture, in TCM it is believed that disease is due to blockages or incorrect flow of qi, which is the TCM equivalent of the “vital force” or “life energy.” Acupuncture posits that by sticking needles into specific points in “meridians” through which qi flows the flow of qi can be unblocked. Cupping is much like acupuncture in that it, too, claims that it unblocks and realigns qi, thereby restoring health.

Proving that no woo goes uninvented anywhere, cupping is not unique to TCM. As has been noted elsewhere, Native Americans throughout North America also used wet cupping as a means of blood letting, although it is unknown how long ago they started the practice, using animal horns. In fact, unlike acupuncture, cupping is truly an ancient practice. The ancient Greeks practiced it, and Hippocrates himself used it. There is documentary evidence that cupping was practiced in ancient Egypt as far back as 1,500 BCE. So, using the appeal to antiquity, cupping must be the greatest thing since sliced bread, which it predates by millennia. Obviously.

There are two forms of cupping. “Wet cupping” involves puncturing the skin before applying the suction cup. (Yes, that’s basically what cupping is, applying a suction cup.) The idea is that this will allow the “poisons” or “toxins” to be sucked out of the body by the cup. Dry cupping omits this step. There are also other methods besides relying on the cooling of heated air to produce suction, such as using a pump to to siphon air out of the cup. These days, glass or clear plastic cups are commonly used, in order to allow monitoring of the skin. Given that, you’d think that harm would be very, very difficult. You’d be wrong.

Witness this story from Australia, Popular treatment known as ‘cupping therapy’ leaves man with seven holes in his back:

A MAN has been left with seven holes on his back after undergoing cupping therapy that went horribly wrong.

The man identified as Li Lin, 63, began taking the treatment every day from May to June in the hope of treating his scapulohumeral periarthritis — more commonly referred to as “frozen shoulder”.

He was told the therapy, which has a history of several thousand years in traditional Chinese medicine, would help with the pain and stiffness and allow him to move freely.

The treatment, known in Chinese as “ba guan”, traditionally uses heated glass cups to create local suction on the patient’s skin, causing circular bruising that is believed to be the result of now mobilised and free-flowing blood.

However, instead of having his condition cured, the man from Chengdu, capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan Province, was left with holes on his back that were essentially very serious, deep burn wounds.

This is what the article is talking about:

I’m a general surgeon. During my residency, I rotated on the burn unit a number o ftimes, during the last of which I was the chief resident there. I know burns. Looking at that picture, I can say that those are some nasty burns, particularly the middle two. They look at least full thickness.

What do I mean by full thickness? Burns, as you might know, are categorized as first, second, and third degree. First degree burns are basically of the sort that just causes redness. Second degree burns are partial thickness, and third degree burns involve the full thickness of the skin. Take a look at that picture again. As a trained general surgeon who has extensive experience with burns, I see burns on Li Lin’s back that can only be described as third degree or full thickness.

How could such burns have come about? Remember, the cups used were almost certainly heated before being placed on Li Lin’s back. However, these wounds probably aren’t thermal burns because the cups usually aren’t heated enough to cause thermal injury, at least if the practitioner is not completely incompetent. A hint of how this could happen is in the story about Li Lin:

Lin said he went for the treatment every day, and his therapist placed the cups in the same position on his back.

After 10 days he reportedly began to notice blisters on his back, but convinced the treatment would cure his aching shoulder, Lin asked his wife to remove the blisters so he could continue the therapy.

Two days before the scheduled end of his treatment, however, Lin started experiencing severe pain on his back and also developed a high fever.

A trip to the doctors then revealed horrifying circular wounds on his back that had started to fester.

The suction from cupping breaks capillaries, which is why not infrequently there are bruises left in the shape of the cups afterward. Think of it as a hickey, which is basically what cupping is: Making hickeys without the fun part. If you repeatedly injure the same area of skin over time, the way the TCM practitioner did to Li Lin by placing the cups in exactly the same place over and over again, the skin there can actually die. In a burn, the skin dies due to fire, but anything that kills the outer layers of skin (the epidermis and dermis) can look and behave like a burn. Lin is not entirely innocent there; he started to get blisters, and a blister is a sign of a second degree burn, now more commonly described as partial thickness burn because it involves the partial thickness of the dermis. In other words, it was an indication that significant injury had occurred, and continuing the cupping the way he did could well have turned a partial thickness burn into a full thickness burn. Given that infection of the burn is the most common (and potentially deadly) complication in patients with major burns, it’s not surprising that Li Lin’s burns got infected. He’s lucky he didn’t become septic.

Oh, wait. He did. His high fever was almost certainly due to sepsis from burn wound infection.

You’re probably thinking: So what? This is just China and maybe a few New Age Gwyneth Paltrow types in the US and Europe. Would that it were just that! Cupping is showing up everywhere, from “integrative” medicine programs in academic medical centers to our very own Department of Defense:

The Army has been using acupuncture to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, despite a lack of evidence that it works. And now it is hiring acupuncturists for its pain clinic at Fort Sam Houston at an annual salary of $68,809 to $89,450. The job description says the candidate will “offer a full array of the most current and emerging evidenced based approaches in integrative medicine for patients with acute and chronic pain who have not responded well to conventional treatment modalities.”

One could argue that acupuncturists have nothing “evidence-based” to offer in the first place, but what is really alarming are the duties listed for the position. They include things acupuncturists are clearly not trained to do, like prescribing orthotics and braces and counseling patients on nutrition. Worse, the duties include providing cupping, moxibustion, and visualization techniques, none of which are effective and two of which directly injure patients. Cupping is the application of glass bulbs filled with heated air to the skin. It creates a vacuum as the air cools, sucking up wads of skin into the bulbs and leaving ugly bruises. Moxibustion involves burning mugwort on or near the skin and can cause burns and permanent scars (and does so deliberately in some forms of moxibustion).

Clearly, our soldiers suffering from PTSD deserve better. They deserve real medicine.

Cupping is nothing more than an ancient medical practice based on a prescientific understanding of the body and disease, much like bloodletting and treatments based on the four humors. As the case of Li Lin shows, it’s all risk for no benefit. It has no place in modern medicine, or at least shouldn’t. After all, we don’t still believe in the four humors that Hippocrates and ancient “Western” medicine invoked for many hundreds of years. TCM is based on much the same concepts, just with different names, substituting, for example, the Five Elements for the Four Humors and attributing disease to imbalances in them, just as ancient Western physicians attributed disease to imbalances in the four humors. Yet “integrative medicine” rejects one and embraces the other when it should be rejecting them both.

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/29gr3ng

Tracking Venus in 2016 and ’17

With Moon – Venus in the evening sky forty-five minutes after sunset from July 2016 through April 2017 from LarryKoehn on Vimeo.

The brightest planet Venus has been gone from Earth’s sky for a couple of months. That’s because it passed behind the sun from Earth in early June, and it’s been traveling on the far side of the solar system, lost in the sun’s glare to all earthly observers. Photographers using telephoto lenses are now beginning to spot Venus again. By mid-July, 2016, it’ll become visible to the eye once more. Can’t wait? This video tracks Venus from when it reappears again in our evening sky in July, 2016 … all the way to April, 2017. EarthSky friend Larry Koehn of the great website shadowandsubstance.com made this animation, and he wrote:

The most interesting date is on August 27 when Jupiter and Venus will be a little less than 8 arc-minutes apart.

Venus will reach greatest elongation (greatest angular separation from the sun), 47°, on January 12, 2017.

I have also inserted a small view of what you would see if you were to watch Venus through a telescope over the coming months. Venus starts off small and round in July. As the days progress, Venus becomes larger and closer to the Earth, and it goes through various phases of illumination much like the moon. By the time it reaches March 2017, Venus will have a thin crescent phase. Venus will reach inferior conjunction [more or less between the Earth and sun] on March 25, 2017.

The music is from Mark Knopfler from the movie soundtrack Local Hero (Whistle Theme) – highly recommended!

Thank you, Larry!

This still from Larry Koehn’s recent video shows Venus and Jupiter in late August, 2016, when these 2 brightest of planets will appear near each other in the west after sunset. Mark your calendar! Visit Larry’s website shadowandsubstance.com

Bottom line: Video animation of the track of Venus (and other planets) from July 2016 to April 2017.

Astronomical events in 2016

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1Po2EHg

With Moon – Venus in the evening sky forty-five minutes after sunset from July 2016 through April 2017 from LarryKoehn on Vimeo.

The brightest planet Venus has been gone from Earth’s sky for a couple of months. That’s because it passed behind the sun from Earth in early June, and it’s been traveling on the far side of the solar system, lost in the sun’s glare to all earthly observers. Photographers using telephoto lenses are now beginning to spot Venus again. By mid-July, 2016, it’ll become visible to the eye once more. Can’t wait? This video tracks Venus from when it reappears again in our evening sky in July, 2016 … all the way to April, 2017. EarthSky friend Larry Koehn of the great website shadowandsubstance.com made this animation, and he wrote:

The most interesting date is on August 27 when Jupiter and Venus will be a little less than 8 arc-minutes apart.

Venus will reach greatest elongation (greatest angular separation from the sun), 47°, on January 12, 2017.

I have also inserted a small view of what you would see if you were to watch Venus through a telescope over the coming months. Venus starts off small and round in July. As the days progress, Venus becomes larger and closer to the Earth, and it goes through various phases of illumination much like the moon. By the time it reaches March 2017, Venus will have a thin crescent phase. Venus will reach inferior conjunction [more or less between the Earth and sun] on March 25, 2017.

The music is from Mark Knopfler from the movie soundtrack Local Hero (Whistle Theme) – highly recommended!

Thank you, Larry!

This still from Larry Koehn’s recent video shows Venus and Jupiter in late August, 2016, when these 2 brightest of planets will appear near each other in the west after sunset. Mark your calendar! Visit Larry’s website shadowandsubstance.com

Bottom line: Video animation of the track of Venus (and other planets) from July 2016 to April 2017.

Astronomical events in 2016

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1Po2EHg

July 2016 guide to the 5 bright planets

Skywatcher, by Predrag Agatonovic.

Three planets – Jupiter, Mars and Saturn – pop out as darkness falls in June 2016. Jupiter, the brightest of the bunch, is found in the western half of the sky and lights up the night until midnight or later. Mars, only a touch fainter than Jupiter, shines above Saturn in the southeast sky at nightfall. Saturn comes closest to Earth for the year on June 3, less than four days after Mars’ closest approach to Earth on May 30. Mars and Saturn shine close to the supergiant red star Antares on the sky’s dome, painting a bright and colorful triangle on the blackboard of night. Not only are Mars and Saturn at their brightest and best in late May and early June, they’re out all night long. Mercury appears as a morning “star” before sunrise, though this morning showing of Mercury greatly favors the Southern Hemisphere. The brightest planet – Venus – is lost in the glare of sun in June. Follow the links below to learn more about the June planets.

Jupiter brightest “star” in June

Mars, dusk until dawn, shines near Saturn

Saturn, dusk until dawn, shines near Mars

Mercury in eastern predawn sky

Venus, brightest planet, lost in the sunrise

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Astronomy events, star parties, festivals, workshops

Three planets – Jupiter, Mars and Saturn – are bright in the evening sky throughout June 2016!

Use the moon to find planet Jupiter, star Regulus and constellation Leo on the evenings of June 9, June 10 and June 11. The green line depicts the ecliptic – the sun and moon’s pathway in front of the constellations of the zodiac.

Jupiter brightest “star” in June. Jupiter lights up the sky almost immediately after sunset on these June evenings. From mid-northern latitudes, the king planet shines in the southwest sky at nightfall. From the Southern Hemisphere, look in the northern sky as darkness falls.

For all of us, Jupiter sets in the west at or around midnight. It will remain a fine evening object throughout July and into August.

Jupiter is almost impossible to miss. It’s the fourth-brightest celestial object, after the sun, moon and Venus. But Venus is now lost in the glare of the sun, so Jupiter rules the nighttime on June evenings. Although Mars is not all that much fainter than Jupiter in early June, Jupiter and Mars are nowhere close together on the sky’s dome. As evening falls, Mars and Saturn sit rather low in the southeast sky, while Jupiter appears in the western half of sky. Most of all, Mars’ bloody-red color is dead giveaway of the red planet. Jupiter, on the other hand, shines bold white.

The moon swings close to Jupiter on the sky’s dome on June 10 and June 11.

If you have binoculars (on a tripod) or a telescope, it’s fairly easy to see Jupiter’s four major moons, which look like pinpricks of light on or near the same plane. They are often called the Galilean moons to honor Galileo, who discovered these great Jovian moons in 1610. In their order from Jupiter, these moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

View larger. Jupiter and the Galilean moons through a 10″ (25 cm) Meade LX200 telescope via Jan Sandberg.

These moons circle Jupiter around the Jovian equator. In cycles of six years, we view Jupiter’s equator edge-on. So, in 2015, we got to view a number of mutual events involving Jupiter’s moons through a high-powered telescope. Click here or here or here for more details.

Although Jupiter’s axial tilt is only 3^o out of perpendicular relative to the ecliptic (Earth’s orbital plane), Jupiter’s axis will tilt enough toward the sun and Earth so that the farthest of these four moons, Callisto, will not pass in front of Jupiter or behind Jupiter for a period of about three years, starting in late 2016.

During this approximate 3-year period, Callisto will remain perpetually visible, alternately swinging above and below Jupiter from our earthly perspective.

Click here for a Jupiter moons almanac, courtesy of Sky & Telescope.

View larger | Mikhail Chubarets in the Ukraine made this chart. It shows the view of Mars through a telescope in 2016. We pass between Mars and the sun on May 22. We won’t see Mars as a disk like this with the eye alone. But, between the start of 2016 and May, the dot of light that is Mars grows dramatically brighter and redder in our night sky. Watch for it!

Watch the brilliant waxing gibbous moon swing by the planets Mars and Saturn, plus the star Antares, on June 16, June 17 and June 18.

Mars, dusk until dawn, shines near Saturn. Mars is almost as bright as Jupiter when the month begins, but will fade quickly this month!

Mars was at its brightest at its opposition on May 22. Jupiter was at its brightest during its opposition on March 8. Mars and Jupiter will remain spectacularly bright in the June night sky, but, by the month’s end, you’ll notice the edge has gone off Mars’ brightness.

Looking for a sky almanac? EarthSky recommends…

Here’s some really good news, though. Mars is near another planet on the sky’s dome, Saturn. Look for Mars and Saturn near Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. They make a noticeable triangle on the sky’s dome.

Let the moon help guide your eye to Mars (and the bright star Spica) for several evenings, centered on June 15. Then watch for the moon to swing away from Spica and more closely with Mars on June 16 and June 17. Then by June 18, the moon will move away from Mars to pair up with Saturn.

Yes, you can find the ringed Saturn near the brighter red planet Mars throughout June 2016! You can also find the bright star Spica between Jupiter and Mars. The green line depicts the ecliptic – pathway of the sun, moon and planets in front of the constellations of the zodiac. Read more.

Saturn, dusk until dawn, shines near Mars. Both Mars and Saturn are near a fainter object – still one of the sky’s brightest stars – Antares in the constellation Scorpius.

The ringed planet starts the month rising in the east around sunset. That’s because Saturn will be at opposition – opposite the sun in Earth’s sky – on June 3. At opposition, Saturn is rising in the east at sunset, and setting in the west at sunrise. At midnight, meanwhile, Saturn is highest up for the night. By the month’s end, Saturn will be coming up in the east roughly two hours before sunset, and will soar to its highest point for the night around 10 p.m. local time (11 p.m. local Daylight Saving Time).

Although Saturn shines on par with the sky’s brightest stars, its brilliance can’t match that of Mars. Look for Saturn near Mars all month long. These two worlds form a bright celestial triangle with the star Antares in the June night sky. Mars is brighter than Saturn, which in turn is brighter than Antares.

Mars will eventually catch up with Saturn on August 24, 2016, to present a conjunction of these two worlds in the August evening sky.

Watch for the moon to swing by Saturn for several days, centered on or near June 18.

Saturn, the farthest world that you can easily view with the eye alone, appears golden in color. It shines with a steady light. Binoculars don’t reveal Saturn’s gorgeous rings, by the way. For that, you need a small telescope. But binoculars will enhance Saturn’s golden color.

Contrasting the size of Saturn and its rings with our planet Earth via Hubble Heritage Team.

Saturn’s rings are inclined at a little more than 26^o from edge-on in June 2016, exhibiting their northern face. Next year, in October 2017, the rings will open most widely, displaying a maximum inclination of 27^o.

As with so much in space (and on Earth), the appearance of Saturn’s rings from Earth is cyclical. In the year 2025, the rings will appear edge-on as seen from Earth. After that, we’ll begin to see the south side of Saturn’s rings, to increase to a maximum inclination of 27^o by May 2032.

Click here for recommended almanacs. They can help you know when the planets rise, transit and set in your sky

The slender waning crescent moon and Mercury, from the perspective of middle latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. The Southern Hemisphere enjoys a much better view of Mercury in the morning sky because Mercury rises before morning dawn in that part of the world.

Mercury in eastern predawn sky. Mercury transitioned from the evening to morning sky on May 9, 2016. Usually, you can’t see Mercury at this juncture because it swings to the north or south of the solar disk, and is lost in the sun’s glare. But this time around, some of you actually witnessed the planet Mercury passing directly in front of the sun on June 3, less than four days after Mars’ closest approach to Earth on May 30. Mars and Saturn shine close to the supergiant red star Antares on the sky’s dome, painting a bright and colorful triangle on the blackboard of night. Although Mars and Saturn won’t be at their brightest and best in July, they’re still plenty bright and easy to see – especially Mars! Mercury and Venus sit low in the glare of evening twilight and follow the sun below the horizon before nightfall. In other words, these two worlds – but especially Mercury – are hard to spot after sunset in July 2016! Follow the links below to learn more about the July planets.

Jupiter brightest “star” on July evenings

Mars, dusk until after midnight, shines near Saturn

Saturn, dusk until after midnight, shines near Mars

Mercury, innermost planet, low in west after sunset

Venus, brightest planet, low in west after sunset

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Watch for the waxing crescent moon to be close to the dazzling planet Jupiter for several days, centered on or near July 8. Read more.

Jupiter brightest “star” on July evenings. Jupiter lights up the sky almost immediately after sunset on these July evenings. From mid-northern latitudes, the king planet shines in the southwest sky at nightfall. From the Southern Hemisphere, look in the north to northwest sky as darkness falls.

For all of us, Jupiter sets in the west at late evening in the beginning of the month and early evening by the month’s end. It will start to fade into the sunset by late August.

Jupiter is almost impossible to miss. It’s the fourth-brightest celestial object, after the sun, moon and Venus. But Venus is now lost – or nearly lost – in the glare of the sun, so Jupiter rules the nighttime on July evenings. As evening falls, Mars and Saturn shine in the southern sky, while Jupiter appears in the west. So it should be pretty easy to distinguish Jupiter from ruddy Mars, especially since these two brilliant worlds shine in different parts of the sky.

The moon swings close to Jupiter on the sky’s dome for several days, centered on or near July 8.

If you have binoculars (on a tripod) or a telescope, it’s fairly easy to see Jupiter’s four major moons, which look like pinpricks of light on or near the same plane. They are often called the Galilean moons to honor Galileo, who discovered these great Jovian moons in 1610. In their order from Jupiter, these moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

View larger. Jupiter and the Galilean moons through a 10″ (25 cm) Meade LX200 telescope via Jan Sandberg.

These moons circle Jupiter around the Jovian equator. In cycles of six years, we view Jupiter’s equator edge-on. So, in 2015, we got to view a number of mutual events involving Jupiter’s moons through a high-powered telescope. Click here for more details.

Although Jupiter’s axial tilt is only 3^o out of perpendicular relative to the ecliptic (Earth’s orbital plane), Jupiter’s axis will tilt enough toward the sun and Earth so that the farthest of these four moons, Callisto, will not pass in front of Jupiter or behind Jupiter for a period of about three years, starting in late 2016.

During this approximate 3-year period, Callisto will remain perpetually visible, alternately swinging above and below Jupiter from our earthly perspective.

Click here for a Jupiter moons almanac, courtesy of Sky & Telescope.

View larger | Mikhail Chubarets in the Ukraine made this chart. It shows the view of Mars through a telescope in 2016. We pass between Mars and the sun on May 22. We won’t see Mars as a disk like this with the eye alone. But, between the start of 2016 and May, the dot of light that is Mars grows dramatically brighter and redder in our night sky. Watch for it!

Watch for the moon to swing close to Mars on July 14 and then Saturn on July 15. Read more.

Mars, dusk until after midnight, shines near Saturn. Mars is still wonderfully bright this month, though fainter than it was in June 2016!

Mars was at its brightest at its opposition on May 22. Jupiter was at its brightest during its opposition on March 8. Mars and Jupiter will remain spectacularly bright in the July night sky, but, by the month’s end, you’ll notice the brightness of Mars has waned somewhat.

Looking for a sky almanac? EarthSky recommends…

Here’s some really good news, though. Mars is near another planet on the sky’s dome, Saturn. Look for Mars and Saturn near Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. They make a noticeable triangle on the sky’s dome.

Let the moon help guide your eye to Mars (plus Saturn and the bright star Antares) for several evenings, centered on or near July 14. Then watch for the moon to move away from Mars and to sail by Saturn on July 15.

The moon swings close to the ringed planet Saturn on July 15. Read more.

Saturn, dusk until after midnight, shines near Mars. Both Mars and Saturn are near a fainter object – still one of the sky’s brightest stars – Antares in the constellation Scorpius.

The ringed planet starts out the month appearing in the south to southeast sky at nightfall. At the beginning of the month, Saturn will soar to its highest point for the night around 10 p.m. local time (11 p.m. local Daylight Saving Time). By the month’s end, Saturn will be at its high point around 8 p.m. local time (9 p.m. local Daylight Saving Time).

Although Saturn shines on par with the sky’s brightest stars, its brilliance can’t match that of Mars. Look for Saturn near Mars all month long. These two worlds form a bright celestial triangle with the star Antares in the July night sky. Mars is brighter than Saturn, which in turn is brighter than Antares.

Mars will eventually catch up with Saturn on August 24, 2016, to present a conjunction of these two worlds in the August evening sky.

Watch for the moon to swing by Saturn for several days, centered on or near July 15.

Saturn, the farthest world that you can easily view with the eye alone, appears golden in color. It shines with a steady light. Binoculars don’t reveal Saturn’s gorgeous rings, by the way. For that, you need a small telescope. But binoculars will enhance Saturn’s golden color.

Contrasting the size of Saturn and its rings with our planet Earth via Hubble Heritage Team.

Saturn’s rings are inclined at a little more than 26^o from edge-on in July 2016, exhibiting their northern face. Next year, in October 2017, the rings will open most widely, displaying a maximum inclination of 27^o.

As with so much in space (and on Earth), the appearance of Saturn’s rings from Earth is cyclical. In the year 2025, the rings will appear edge-on as seen from Earth. After that, we’ll begin to see the south side of Saturn’s rings, to increase to a maximum inclination of 27^o by May 2032.

Click here for recommended almanacs. They can help you know when the planets rise, transit and set in your sky

For a big sky watching challenge, try finding the planet Mercury in conjunction with the star Regulus on July 30, 2016. Mercury and Regulus will be in between the dazzling planets Venus and Jupiter, the third and fourth brightest celestial bodies, respectively, after the sun and moon. Read more.

Mercury, innermost planet, low in west after sunset. Mercury transitions from the morning to evening sky on July 7, 2016. Your first chance to view Mercury after sunset will probably come on or around July 16, when Venus and Mercury are in conjunction. You might see Venus with the unaided eye, but you’ll probably need binoculars to glimpse Mercury.

Throughout the month, Mercury will climb higher up at sunset and set later after sundown. Mercury may not become visible to the naked eye until late July or early August. For another big challenge, try viewing Mercury snuggling up with the star Regulus in the western dusk on July 30.

Click here for an almanac giving Mercury’s setting time into your sky.

It’s a long shot, perhaps, by why not try to catch the young moon and Venus after sunset on July 5, 6 and 7? Read more.

Venus, brightest planet, low in west after sunset. Venus swung directly behind the sun on June 6, 2016, to transition from the morning to the evening sky. Exactly four years previous to Venus passing directly behind the sun on June 6, 2016, Venus swung directly in front of the sun on June 6, 2012, to present the last transit of Venus until December 11, 2117. See the photo below.

Photo of the transit of Venus on June 6, 2012, via NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,

Venus might become visible in the western sky after to the unaided eye at dusk by around mid-July. If you’re an eagle-eyed observer, try catching the young moon and Venus after sunset on July 5. If you miss the coupling of the moon and Venus on July 5, you’ll have another chance to catch Venus in conjunction with Mercury on July 16. Undoubtedly, an optical aid will come in handy on both dates!

Venus will become easier to see in the western evening twilight in August, and even more so in September.

What do we mean by bright planet? By bright planet, we mean any solar system planet that is easily visible without an optical aid and that has been watched by our ancestors since time immemorial. In their outward order from the sun, the five bright planets are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These planets actually do appear bright in our sky. They are typically as bright as – or brighter than – the brightest stars. Plus, these relatively nearby worlds tend to shine with a steadier light than the distant, twinkling stars. You can spot them, and come to know them as faithful friends, if you try.

Bottom line: In July 2016, Jupiter is the brightest starlike object up when the sun goes down (unless you happen to glimpse Venus low in the west after sunset). Saturn and the bright star Antares make a triangle with Mars on the sky’s dome. Mercury, the innermost planet, is returning to the evening sky, to .

Easily locate stars and constellations with EarthSky’s planisphere.

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From late January, and through mid-February, 5 bright planets were visible at once in the predawn sky. This image is from February 8, 2016. It’s by Eliot Herman in Tucson, Arizona. View on Flickr.

Awesome month for planets before dawn: October, 2015! Photo taken October 2, 2015 by Mohamed Laaifat Photographies in Normandy, France.

Eastern sky before dawn now. Photo taken September 18, 2015 and submitted to EarthSky by Greg Hogan in Kathleen, Georgia. Thanks, Greg!

View larger. Evening dusk on August 5: Venus at left. Mercury is climbing higher, toward Regulus (at top) and Jupiter (beneath Regulus).

By the evening of July 12, Venus and Jupiter were farther apart and lower in the western sky after sunset. Photo by Robert Kelly. Thanks, Robert!

Photo taken June 13, 2015 by John Nelson at Puget Sound, Washington. Thanks, John!

View larger. | Photo taken in early June, 2015 by Göran Strand in Sweden. He wrote: “One of the last nights during the spring when the stars were still visible … ” Follow Fotograf Göran Strand on Facebook, or @astrofotografen on Instagram. Or visit his website.

Lunar eclipse on the night of October 8, 2014. The object to the left is the planet Uranus! This beautiful photo is by Janey Wing Kenyon of Story, Wyoming.

Debra Fryar in Calobreves, Texas captured this photo of the moon and Jupiter on May 31, 2014. Jupiter was close to the twilight then.

With only a modest backyard telescope, you can easily see Jupiter’s four largest moons. Here they are through a 10″ (25 cm) Meade LX200 telescope. Image credit: Jan Sandberg

Jupiter was rivaling the streetlights, when Mohamed Laaifat Photographies captured this photo in Normandy, France. Visit his page on Facebook.

Venus by Danny Crocker-Jensen

These are called star trails. It’s a long-exposure photo, which shows you how Earth is turning under the stars. The brightest object here is Jupiter, which is the second-brightest planet, after Venus. This awesome photo by EarthSky Facebook friend Mohamed Laaifat in Normandy, France. Thank you, Mohamed.

Easily locate stars and constellations with EarthSky’s planisphere.

Don’t miss anything. Subscribe to EarthSky News by email

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/IJfHCr

Skywatcher, by Predrag Agatonovic.

Three planets – Jupiter, Mars and Saturn – pop out as darkness falls in June 2016. Jupiter, the brightest of the bunch, is found in the western half of the sky and lights up the night until midnight or later. Mars, only a touch fainter than Jupiter, shines above Saturn in the southeast sky at nightfall. Saturn comes closest to Earth for the year on June 3, less than four days after Mars’ closest approach to Earth on May 30. Mars and Saturn shine close to the supergiant red star Antares on the sky’s dome, painting a bright and colorful triangle on the blackboard of night. Not only are Mars and Saturn at their brightest and best in late May and early June, they’re out all night long. Mercury appears as a morning “star” before sunrise, though this morning showing of Mercury greatly favors the Southern Hemisphere. The brightest planet – Venus – is lost in the glare of sun in June. Follow the links below to learn more about the June planets.

Jupiter brightest “star” in June

Mars, dusk until dawn, shines near Saturn

Saturn, dusk until dawn, shines near Mars

Mercury in eastern predawn sky

Venus, brightest planet, lost in the sunrise

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Three planets – Jupiter, Mars and Saturn – are bright in the evening sky throughout June 2016!

Use the moon to find planet Jupiter, star Regulus and constellation Leo on the evenings of June 9, June 10 and June 11. The green line depicts the ecliptic – the sun and moon’s pathway in front of the constellations of the zodiac.

Jupiter brightest “star” in June. Jupiter lights up the sky almost immediately after sunset on these June evenings. From mid-northern latitudes, the king planet shines in the southwest sky at nightfall. From the Southern Hemisphere, look in the northern sky as darkness falls.

For all of us, Jupiter sets in the west at or around midnight. It will remain a fine evening object throughout July and into August.

Jupiter is almost impossible to miss. It’s the fourth-brightest celestial object, after the sun, moon and Venus. But Venus is now lost in the glare of the sun, so Jupiter rules the nighttime on June evenings. Although Mars is not all that much fainter than Jupiter in early June, Jupiter and Mars are nowhere close together on the sky’s dome. As evening falls, Mars and Saturn sit rather low in the southeast sky, while Jupiter appears in the western half of sky. Most of all, Mars’ bloody-red color is dead giveaway of the red planet. Jupiter, on the other hand, shines bold white.

The moon swings close to Jupiter on the sky’s dome on June 10 and June 11.

If you have binoculars (on a tripod) or a telescope, it’s fairly easy to see Jupiter’s four major moons, which look like pinpricks of light on or near the same plane. They are often called the Galilean moons to honor Galileo, who discovered these great Jovian moons in 1610. In their order from Jupiter, these moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

View larger. Jupiter and the Galilean moons through a 10″ (25 cm) Meade LX200 telescope via Jan Sandberg.

These moons circle Jupiter around the Jovian equator. In cycles of six years, we view Jupiter’s equator edge-on. So, in 2015, we got to view a number of mutual events involving Jupiter’s moons through a high-powered telescope. Click here or here or here for more details.

Although Jupiter’s axial tilt is only 3^o out of perpendicular relative to the ecliptic (Earth’s orbital plane), Jupiter’s axis will tilt enough toward the sun and Earth so that the farthest of these four moons, Callisto, will not pass in front of Jupiter or behind Jupiter for a period of about three years, starting in late 2016.

During this approximate 3-year period, Callisto will remain perpetually visible, alternately swinging above and below Jupiter from our earthly perspective.

Click here for a Jupiter moons almanac, courtesy of Sky & Telescope.

View larger | Mikhail Chubarets in the Ukraine made this chart. It shows the view of Mars through a telescope in 2016. We pass between Mars and the sun on May 22. We won’t see Mars as a disk like this with the eye alone. But, between the start of 2016 and May, the dot of light that is Mars grows dramatically brighter and redder in our night sky. Watch for it!

Watch the brilliant waxing gibbous moon swing by the planets Mars and Saturn, plus the star Antares, on June 16, June 17 and June 18.

Mars, dusk until dawn, shines near Saturn. Mars is almost as bright as Jupiter when the month begins, but will fade quickly this month!

Mars was at its brightest at its opposition on May 22. Jupiter was at its brightest during its opposition on March 8. Mars and Jupiter will remain spectacularly bright in the June night sky, but, by the month’s end, you’ll notice the edge has gone off Mars’ brightness.

Looking for a sky almanac? EarthSky recommends…

Here’s some really good news, though. Mars is near another planet on the sky’s dome, Saturn. Look for Mars and Saturn near Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. They make a noticeable triangle on the sky’s dome.

Let the moon help guide your eye to Mars (and the bright star Spica) for several evenings, centered on June 15. Then watch for the moon to swing away from Spica and more closely with Mars on June 16 and June 17. Then by June 18, the moon will move away from Mars to pair up with Saturn.

Yes, you can find the ringed Saturn near the brighter red planet Mars throughout June 2016! You can also find the bright star Spica between Jupiter and Mars. The green line depicts the ecliptic – pathway of the sun, moon and planets in front of the constellations of the zodiac. Read more.

Saturn, dusk until dawn, shines near Mars. Both Mars and Saturn are near a fainter object – still one of the sky’s brightest stars – Antares in the constellation Scorpius.

The ringed planet starts the month rising in the east around sunset. That’s because Saturn will be at opposition – opposite the sun in Earth’s sky – on June 3. At opposition, Saturn is rising in the east at sunset, and setting in the west at sunrise. At midnight, meanwhile, Saturn is highest up for the night. By the month’s end, Saturn will be coming up in the east roughly two hours before sunset, and will soar to its highest point for the night around 10 p.m. local time (11 p.m. local Daylight Saving Time).

Although Saturn shines on par with the sky’s brightest stars, its brilliance can’t match that of Mars. Look for Saturn near Mars all month long. These two worlds form a bright celestial triangle with the star Antares in the June night sky. Mars is brighter than Saturn, which in turn is brighter than Antares.

Mars will eventually catch up with Saturn on August 24, 2016, to present a conjunction of these two worlds in the August evening sky.

Watch for the moon to swing by Saturn for several days, centered on or near June 18.

Saturn, the farthest world that you can easily view with the eye alone, appears golden in color. It shines with a steady light. Binoculars don’t reveal Saturn’s gorgeous rings, by the way. For that, you need a small telescope. But binoculars will enhance Saturn’s golden color.

Contrasting the size of Saturn and its rings with our planet Earth via Hubble Heritage Team.

Saturn’s rings are inclined at a little more than 26^o from edge-on in June 2016, exhibiting their northern face. Next year, in October 2017, the rings will open most widely, displaying a maximum inclination of 27^o.

As with so much in space (and on Earth), the appearance of Saturn’s rings from Earth is cyclical. In the year 2025, the rings will appear edge-on as seen from Earth. After that, we’ll begin to see the south side of Saturn’s rings, to increase to a maximum inclination of 27^o by May 2032.

Click here for recommended almanacs. They can help you know when the planets rise, transit and set in your sky

The slender waning crescent moon and Mercury, from the perspective of middle latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. The Southern Hemisphere enjoys a much better view of Mercury in the morning sky because Mercury rises before morning dawn in that part of the world.

Mercury in eastern predawn sky. Mercury transitioned from the evening to morning sky on May 9, 2016. Usually, you can’t see Mercury at this juncture because it swings to the north or south of the solar disk, and is lost in the sun’s glare. But this time around, some of you actually witnessed the planet Mercury passing directly in front of the sun on June 3, less than four days after Mars’ closest approach to Earth on May 30. Mars and Saturn shine close to the supergiant red star Antares on the sky’s dome, painting a bright and colorful triangle on the blackboard of night. Although Mars and Saturn won’t be at their brightest and best in July, they’re still plenty bright and easy to see – especially Mars! Mercury and Venus sit low in the glare of evening twilight and follow the sun below the horizon before nightfall. In other words, these two worlds – but especially Mercury – are hard to spot after sunset in July 2016! Follow the links below to learn more about the July planets.

Jupiter brightest “star” on July evenings

Mars, dusk until after midnight, shines near Saturn

Saturn, dusk until after midnight, shines near Mars

Mercury, innermost planet, low in west after sunset

Venus, brightest planet, low in west after sunset

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Watch for the waxing crescent moon to be close to the dazzling planet Jupiter for several days, centered on or near July 8. Read more.

Jupiter brightest “star” on July evenings. Jupiter lights up the sky almost immediately after sunset on these July evenings. From mid-northern latitudes, the king planet shines in the southwest sky at nightfall. From the Southern Hemisphere, look in the north to northwest sky as darkness falls.

For all of us, Jupiter sets in the west at late evening in the beginning of the month and early evening by the month’s end. It will start to fade into the sunset by late August.

Jupiter is almost impossible to miss. It’s the fourth-brightest celestial object, after the sun, moon and Venus. But Venus is now lost – or nearly lost – in the glare of the sun, so Jupiter rules the nighttime on July evenings. As evening falls, Mars and Saturn shine in the southern sky, while Jupiter appears in the west. So it should be pretty easy to distinguish Jupiter from ruddy Mars, especially since these two brilliant worlds shine in different parts of the sky.

The moon swings close to Jupiter on the sky’s dome for several days, centered on or near July 8.

If you have binoculars (on a tripod) or a telescope, it’s fairly easy to see Jupiter’s four major moons, which look like pinpricks of light on or near the same plane. They are often called the Galilean moons to honor Galileo, who discovered these great Jovian moons in 1610. In their order from Jupiter, these moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

View larger. Jupiter and the Galilean moons through a 10″ (25 cm) Meade LX200 telescope via Jan Sandberg.

These moons circle Jupiter around the Jovian equator. In cycles of six years, we view Jupiter’s equator edge-on. So, in 2015, we got to view a number of mutual events involving Jupiter’s moons through a high-powered telescope. Click here for more details.

Although Jupiter’s axial tilt is only 3^o out of perpendicular relative to the ecliptic (Earth’s orbital plane), Jupiter’s axis will tilt enough toward the sun and Earth so that the farthest of these four moons, Callisto, will not pass in front of Jupiter or behind Jupiter for a period of about three years, starting in late 2016.

During this approximate 3-year period, Callisto will remain perpetually visible, alternately swinging above and below Jupiter from our earthly perspective.

Click here for a Jupiter moons almanac, courtesy of Sky & Telescope.

View larger | Mikhail Chubarets in the Ukraine made this chart. It shows the view of Mars through a telescope in 2016. We pass between Mars and the sun on May 22. We won’t see Mars as a disk like this with the eye alone. But, between the start of 2016 and May, the dot of light that is Mars grows dramatically brighter and redder in our night sky. Watch for it!

Watch for the moon to swing close to Mars on July 14 and then Saturn on July 15. Read more.

Mars, dusk until after midnight, shines near Saturn. Mars is still wonderfully bright this month, though fainter than it was in June 2016!

Mars was at its brightest at its opposition on May 22. Jupiter was at its brightest during its opposition on March 8. Mars and Jupiter will remain spectacularly bright in the July night sky, but, by the month’s end, you’ll notice the brightness of Mars has waned somewhat.

Looking for a sky almanac? EarthSky recommends…

Here’s some really good news, though. Mars is near another planet on the sky’s dome, Saturn. Look for Mars and Saturn near Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. They make a noticeable triangle on the sky’s dome.

Let the moon help guide your eye to Mars (plus Saturn and the bright star Antares) for several evenings, centered on or near July 14. Then watch for the moon to move away from Mars and to sail by Saturn on July 15.

The moon swings close to the ringed planet Saturn on July 15. Read more.

Saturn, dusk until after midnight, shines near Mars. Both Mars and Saturn are near a fainter object – still one of the sky’s brightest stars – Antares in the constellation Scorpius.

The ringed planet starts out the month appearing in the south to southeast sky at nightfall. At the beginning of the month, Saturn will soar to its highest point for the night around 10 p.m. local time (11 p.m. local Daylight Saving Time). By the month’s end, Saturn will be at its high point around 8 p.m. local time (9 p.m. local Daylight Saving Time).

Although Saturn shines on par with the sky’s brightest stars, its brilliance can’t match that of Mars. Look for Saturn near Mars all month long. These two worlds form a bright celestial triangle with the star Antares in the July night sky. Mars is brighter than Saturn, which in turn is brighter than Antares.

Mars will eventually catch up with Saturn on August 24, 2016, to present a conjunction of these two worlds in the August evening sky.

Watch for the moon to swing by Saturn for several days, centered on or near July 15.

Saturn, the farthest world that you can easily view with the eye alone, appears golden in color. It shines with a steady light. Binoculars don’t reveal Saturn’s gorgeous rings, by the way. For that, you need a small telescope. But binoculars will enhance Saturn’s golden color.

Contrasting the size of Saturn and its rings with our planet Earth via Hubble Heritage Team.

Saturn’s rings are inclined at a little more than 26^o from edge-on in July 2016, exhibiting their northern face. Next year, in October 2017, the rings will open most widely, displaying a maximum inclination of 27^o.

As with so much in space (and on Earth), the appearance of Saturn’s rings from Earth is cyclical. In the year 2025, the rings will appear edge-on as seen from Earth. After that, we’ll begin to see the south side of Saturn’s rings, to increase to a maximum inclination of 27^o by May 2032.

Click here for recommended almanacs. They can help you know when the planets rise, transit and set in your sky

For a big sky watching challenge, try finding the planet Mercury in conjunction with the star Regulus on July 30, 2016. Mercury and Regulus will be in between the dazzling planets Venus and Jupiter, the third and fourth brightest celestial bodies, respectively, after the sun and moon. Read more.

Mercury, innermost planet, low in west after sunset. Mercury transitions from the morning to evening sky on July 7, 2016. Your first chance to view Mercury after sunset will probably come on or around July 16, when Venus and Mercury are in conjunction. You might see Venus with the unaided eye, but you’ll probably need binoculars to glimpse Mercury.

Throughout the month, Mercury will climb higher up at sunset and set later after sundown. Mercury may not become visible to the naked eye until late July or early August. For another big challenge, try viewing Mercury snuggling up with the star Regulus in the western dusk on July 30.

Click here for an almanac giving Mercury’s setting time into your sky.

It’s a long shot, perhaps, by why not try to catch the young moon and Venus after sunset on July 5, 6 and 7? Read more.

Venus, brightest planet, low in west after sunset. Venus swung directly behind the sun on June 6, 2016, to transition from the morning to the evening sky. Exactly four years previous to Venus passing directly behind the sun on June 6, 2016, Venus swung directly in front of the sun on June 6, 2012, to present the last transit of Venus until December 11, 2117. See the photo below.

Photo of the transit of Venus on June 6, 2012, via NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,

Venus might become visible in the western sky after to the unaided eye at dusk by around mid-July. If you’re an eagle-eyed observer, try catching the young moon and Venus after sunset on July 5. If you miss the coupling of the moon and Venus on July 5, you’ll have another chance to catch Venus in conjunction with Mercury on July 16. Undoubtedly, an optical aid will come in handy on both dates!

Venus will become easier to see in the western evening twilight in August, and even more so in September.

What do we mean by bright planet? By bright planet, we mean any solar system planet that is easily visible without an optical aid and that has been watched by our ancestors since time immemorial. In their outward order from the sun, the five bright planets are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These planets actually do appear bright in our sky. They are typically as bright as – or brighter than – the brightest stars. Plus, these relatively nearby worlds tend to shine with a steadier light than the distant, twinkling stars. You can spot them, and come to know them as faithful friends, if you try.

Bottom line: In July 2016, Jupiter is the brightest starlike object up when the sun goes down (unless you happen to glimpse Venus low in the west after sunset). Saturn and the bright star Antares make a triangle with Mars on the sky’s dome. Mercury, the innermost planet, is returning to the evening sky, to .

Easily locate stars and constellations with EarthSky’s planisphere.

Don’t miss anything. Subscribe to EarthSky News by email

From late January, and through mid-February, 5 bright planets were visible at once in the predawn sky. This image is from February 8, 2016. It’s by Eliot Herman in Tucson, Arizona. View on Flickr.

Awesome month for planets before dawn: October, 2015! Photo taken October 2, 2015 by Mohamed Laaifat Photographies in Normandy, France.

Eastern sky before dawn now. Photo taken September 18, 2015 and submitted to EarthSky by Greg Hogan in Kathleen, Georgia. Thanks, Greg!

View larger. Evening dusk on August 5: Venus at left. Mercury is climbing higher, toward Regulus (at top) and Jupiter (beneath Regulus).

By the evening of July 12, Venus and Jupiter were farther apart and lower in the western sky after sunset. Photo by Robert Kelly. Thanks, Robert!

Photo taken June 13, 2015 by John Nelson at Puget Sound, Washington. Thanks, John!

View larger. | Photo taken in early June, 2015 by Göran Strand in Sweden. He wrote: “One of the last nights during the spring when the stars were still visible … ” Follow Fotograf Göran Strand on Facebook, or @astrofotografen on Instagram. Or visit his website.

Lunar eclipse on the night of October 8, 2014. The object to the left is the planet Uranus! This beautiful photo is by Janey Wing Kenyon of Story, Wyoming.

Debra Fryar in Calobreves, Texas captured this photo of the moon and Jupiter on May 31, 2014. Jupiter was close to the twilight then.

With only a modest backyard telescope, you can easily see Jupiter’s four largest moons. Here they are through a 10″ (25 cm) Meade LX200 telescope. Image credit: Jan Sandberg

Jupiter was rivaling the streetlights, when Mohamed Laaifat Photographies captured this photo in Normandy, France. Visit his page on Facebook.

Venus by Danny Crocker-Jensen

These are called star trails. It’s a long-exposure photo, which shows you how Earth is turning under the stars. The brightest object here is Jupiter, which is the second-brightest planet, after Venus. This awesome photo by EarthSky Facebook friend Mohamed Laaifat in Normandy, France. Thank you, Mohamed.

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Venus returning to evening twilight

Venus setting in the west on June 28, just 6 degrees from the sun, captured via zoom lens by Helio C. Vital.

We’ve missed Venus these past two month, as it’s traveled in smaller, faster orbit behind the sun from Earth’s perspective. But Venus – the brightest planet – is coming back! Hello C. Vital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, told us he could not see Venus with the eye yet, but he did manage to capture it with a zoom lens on June 28. He wrote:

At sunset I started looking for Venus by staring at the LCD monitor of my Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 camera using zoom values ranging from 50 to 150 times.

Surprisingly, after a 3-minute search only, I found it as a conspicuous dot, though it was not visible to the unaided eye.

The magnitude of Venus is currently -3.9 and it is still very close to the sun (only 6.07° away). The planet is returning from its superior conjunction and its distance of 257.6 million km [160 million miles] renders it a small apparent diameter of just 9.8 arcseconds.

This 9-frame animation shows Venus (at 3.6° altitude and 295° azimuth) shortly before hiding behind the summit of a hill located 4 kilometers away between 17:23 and 17:25 (Rio`s time = GMT – 3h).

Note that its apparent path forms an angle of 23° with respect to the vertical direction consistent with Rio`s tropical latitude.

All photos were processed with Photoscape to reduce noise, to adjust contrast and to create the animation.

Thank you, Helio!

Venus setting behind the sun on June 28, 2016, by Helio C. Vital. Going …

Going … Venus on June 28 by Helio C. Vital.

Nearly gone … but it’ll be back tomorrow evening, getting higher in the sky, farther from the sun, with each passing day. June 28 photo by Helio C. Vital.

Bottom line: Photos and animation of the brightest planet, Venus, setting behind the sun – only 6 degrees from the sun – on June 28, 2016.

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Venus setting in the west on June 28, just 6 degrees from the sun, captured via zoom lens by Helio C. Vital.

We’ve missed Venus these past two month, as it’s traveled in smaller, faster orbit behind the sun from Earth’s perspective. But Venus – the brightest planet – is coming back! Hello C. Vital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, told us he could not see Venus with the eye yet, but he did manage to capture it with a zoom lens on June 28. He wrote:

At sunset I started looking for Venus by staring at the LCD monitor of my Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 camera using zoom values ranging from 50 to 150 times.

Surprisingly, after a 3-minute search only, I found it as a conspicuous dot, though it was not visible to the unaided eye.

The magnitude of Venus is currently -3.9 and it is still very close to the sun (only 6.07° away). The planet is returning from its superior conjunction and its distance of 257.6 million km [160 million miles] renders it a small apparent diameter of just 9.8 arcseconds.

This 9-frame animation shows Venus (at 3.6° altitude and 295° azimuth) shortly before hiding behind the summit of a hill located 4 kilometers away between 17:23 and 17:25 (Rio`s time = GMT – 3h).

Note that its apparent path forms an angle of 23° with respect to the vertical direction consistent with Rio`s tropical latitude.

All photos were processed with Photoscape to reduce noise, to adjust contrast and to create the animation.

Thank you, Helio!

Venus setting behind the sun on June 28, 2016, by Helio C. Vital. Going …

Going … Venus on June 28 by Helio C. Vital.

Nearly gone … but it’ll be back tomorrow evening, getting higher in the sky, farther from the sun, with each passing day. June 28 photo by Helio C. Vital.

Bottom line: Photos and animation of the brightest planet, Venus, setting behind the sun – only 6 degrees from the sun – on June 28, 2016.

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Moon and Aldebaran before dawn July 2

Tomorrow before dawn – July 2, 2016 – if you’re an early riser, you might catch the waning crescent moon pairing up with the red star Aldebaran, brightest star in the constellation Tarurus the Bull. The July 2 morning moon is also in the vicinity of the Pleiades star cluster, aka the Seven Sisters, also in Taurus.

The moon will be in the east before dawn. Aldebaran will be right next to the moon and the Pleiades will be above them. That’ll be the case from all parts of the globe … assuming your sky is cloud-free! If you have binoculars, be sure to turn them on these predawn objects. Binoculars will enhance the view.

See the star Aldebaran just above the twilight in this photo by Ken Christison? Notice that it’s part of a V-shaped pattern of stars. That pattern is called the Hyades. Now look above Aldebaran. See the Pleiades?

Here’s a telescopic view of that V-shaped pattern, the Hyades, an actual star cluster in space. Aldebaran is the brightest star in the V. Notice its very red color. A telescope reveals over 100 stars in the Hyades cluster. Photo via astronomycafe.net.

Aldebaran is a bright red star, but it’s not the only bright, red star in our night sky. Aldebaran shines virtually opposite (180^o) of the red supergiant star Antares, the bright, red star in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. Antares is sometimes called the Scorpion’s Heart. Because they’re opposite each other on the dome of sky, you won’t ever see Aldebaran and Antares in the same sky together. For example, Aldebaran won’t be visible this evening. Meanwhile, Aldebaran’s counterpart star – Antares – pops into view as soon as darkness falls.

Incidentally, in 2016, the red planet Mars and golden planet Saturn shine rather close to Antares, as seen from around the world.

In 2016, the planets Mars and Saturn make a noticeable triangle with the star Antares, as seen from around the globe.

So the red star Antares – the star near Mars and Saturn now – and the red star Aldebaran lie opposite one another on the great sphere of stars. In both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, look for Antares and the planets Mars and Saturn as night begins. Look south from the Northern Hemisphere and northeast at nightfall – overhead around 9-10 p.m. – from the Southern Hemisphere. That’s 9-10 p.m. local time, the time on your clock no matter where you are on the globe.

Antares, Mars and Saturn will drift westward throughout the night. After they set, look for the waning crescent moon and star Aldebaran to rise on July 2.

With each successive day, Antares sets four minutes earlier, while Aldebaran rises four minutes earlier. Or, with each successive month, Antares sets two hours earlier, while Aldebaran rises two hours earlier.

So, as the days and weeks roll by, Antares spends less time in the evening sky after sunset while Aldebaran spends more in the morning sky before sunrise.

When December finally arrives, Aldebaran will be out all night long, and Antares will be lost in the sun’s glare.

We in the Northern Hemisphere associate Antares with the hot season because we see this star on summer evenings. And in winter, we associate Aldebaran with the cold season because we see this star on winter evenings.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the opposite is true. Antares is a winter star. Aldebaran is a summer star.

Bottom line: The moon is waning, and back in the predawn sky. Watch it pair up with the star Aldebaran, near the Pleiades star cluster, before dawn on July 2.

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Tomorrow before dawn – July 2, 2016 – if you’re an early riser, you might catch the waning crescent moon pairing up with the red star Aldebaran, brightest star in the constellation Tarurus the Bull. The July 2 morning moon is also in the vicinity of the Pleiades star cluster, aka the Seven Sisters, also in Taurus.

The moon will be in the east before dawn. Aldebaran will be right next to the moon and the Pleiades will be above them. That’ll be the case from all parts of the globe … assuming your sky is cloud-free! If you have binoculars, be sure to turn them on these predawn objects. Binoculars will enhance the view.

See the star Aldebaran just above the twilight in this photo by Ken Christison? Notice that it’s part of a V-shaped pattern of stars. That pattern is called the Hyades. Now look above Aldebaran. See the Pleiades?

Here’s a telescopic view of that V-shaped pattern, the Hyades, an actual star cluster in space. Aldebaran is the brightest star in the V. Notice its very red color. A telescope reveals over 100 stars in the Hyades cluster. Photo via astronomycafe.net.

Aldebaran is a bright red star, but it’s not the only bright, red star in our night sky. Aldebaran shines virtually opposite (180^o) of the red supergiant star Antares, the bright, red star in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. Antares is sometimes called the Scorpion’s Heart. Because they’re opposite each other on the dome of sky, you won’t ever see Aldebaran and Antares in the same sky together. For example, Aldebaran won’t be visible this evening. Meanwhile, Aldebaran’s counterpart star – Antares – pops into view as soon as darkness falls.

Incidentally, in 2016, the red planet Mars and golden planet Saturn shine rather close to Antares, as seen from around the world.

In 2016, the planets Mars and Saturn make a noticeable triangle with the star Antares, as seen from around the globe.

So the red star Antares – the star near Mars and Saturn now – and the red star Aldebaran lie opposite one another on the great sphere of stars. In both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, look for Antares and the planets Mars and Saturn as night begins. Look south from the Northern Hemisphere and northeast at nightfall – overhead around 9-10 p.m. – from the Southern Hemisphere. That’s 9-10 p.m. local time, the time on your clock no matter where you are on the globe.

Antares, Mars and Saturn will drift westward throughout the night. After they set, look for the waning crescent moon and star Aldebaran to rise on July 2.

With each successive day, Antares sets four minutes earlier, while Aldebaran rises four minutes earlier. Or, with each successive month, Antares sets two hours earlier, while Aldebaran rises two hours earlier.

So, as the days and weeks roll by, Antares spends less time in the evening sky after sunset while Aldebaran spends more in the morning sky before sunrise.

When December finally arrives, Aldebaran will be out all night long, and Antares will be lost in the sun’s glare.

We in the Northern Hemisphere associate Antares with the hot season because we see this star on summer evenings. And in winter, we associate Aldebaran with the cold season because we see this star on winter evenings.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the opposite is true. Antares is a winter star. Aldebaran is a summer star.

Bottom line: The moon is waning, and back in the predawn sky. Watch it pair up with the star Aldebaran, near the Pleiades star cluster, before dawn on July 2.

Donate: Your support means the world to us

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/29kB0z6