[NatureNS] Venus - Space Station - etc - Canada Day Night Sky

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From: Sherman Williams <sherm@glinx.com>
Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:08:06 -0300
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
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Looks like a nice clear sky tonight -for some of us at least.

Some items to look for in the Canada Day night sky:
With late sunset (9:07p.m. in Avonport) It is after 10 p.m. before  
the sky is dark enough to show anything   ....except for VENUS !
Venus is a BRILLIANT jewel above the western horizon just now.  
Certainly by 9:45 it can be seen well up in west; by 10:15 -10:30 it  
is dazzling in the darkening twilight.  Around that time, one should  
begin to see Regulus (the main star of LEO), Mars, and Saturn, (in  
that order) forming a straight LINE diagonally up to the left from  
Venus, all about evenly spaced.

Over July Venus and Mars  converge on Saturn.  First week in August  
these 3 planets form a binocular-field-huddle above the LOW western  
horizon.  On clear summer evenings It will be neat to watch this  
huddle of planetary arrangement take place.  The one challenge is the  
lingering twilight; that part of the sky gradually gets flooded with  
the advance of the Sun as it moves  into that part of the sky (mid  
August Sun is located near Regulus, just left to where Venus is  
tonight).

Venus is about 8 light-minutes (l-min) distant, Mars is about 14 l- 
min, and Saturn is about 79 l-min, Regulus is 77 light years (l-y)  
distant.  (If you could travel at the speed of a cell phone call,  
which travels at light speed, the light year or the light minute is  
how long it would take to reach the object referred to)

The Space Station makes some late evening (night) passes that are  
visible. One at 10:40 p.m 25 deg to the north and one at 12:16 a.m.  
35 deg to the NNE.
(The space Station at its 370km altitude is much less than one second  
away using the speed of light)

Arcturus (36 light years away) is the bright star up toward overhead  
in the southward. You'll notice that the Big Dipper has at a lofty  
perch as well.

Hope you all enjoyed your Canada Day !

   Sherman

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