Tulsa World: Skywatch

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Skywatch

By Chris Pagan
Published: 6/24/2007 5:01 AM
Last Modified: 6/24/2007 5:01 AM

Sunday: There is a good pass of the international space station tonight, even though the sky will not be too dark when it appears. At 9:18 p.m. the ISS can first be sighted 10 degrees above the west-northwest horizon. By 9:21 p.m. the ISS will have climbed to an altitude of 49 degrees in the southwest. Three minutes later, the ISS disappears in the south-southeast 10 degrees above the horizon.

Monday: Tonight at 10 the constellation Cygnus the Swan is located at a decent altitude in the northeast. At the tip of the swan's beak is a rather ordinary-looking star known as Albireo. However, good binoculars will reveal that Albireo is a double star. This is a rather interesting double star because the stars are different colors. The brighter of the two stars is a yellowish orange, and the second star appears to be blue. Albireo is one of the best examples of showing how the temperature of a star dictates its color.

Tuesday: Looking eastward at 5:30 this morning, Mars is seen high in the eastern sky. Though the planet does not appear as bright as the other planets that are visible after sunset, Mars is one of the brightest objects in its region of the sky. Mars is also distinguishable by its reddish color.

Wednesday:A large gibbous moon is located 2-1/2 degrees from the star Antares at 10 tonight. Antares is the star with a reddish appearance to the left of the moon. Six degrees to the upper left of Antares is Jupiter

rivaled in brightness in tonight's sky only by Venus and the moon.

Thursday: A small telescope aimed toward Venus tonight will reveal something you may not expect. For as bright as the planet appears tonight, only half of the planets sunlit side will be visible. Venus and Mercury go through phases just like the moon. As we see less and less of the sunlit side of Venus, the larger the planet will appear. By the end of next month Venus' crescent shape will be visible in binoculars.

Friday: Tonight, the planets Venus and Saturn produce a nice pairing in the sky at 10. The two planets are separated by only 1 degree and over the next few nights the planets will move even closer to one another. Tonight, Venus is 100 times brighter than Saturn.

Saturday: At 8:49 a.m. the full moon occurs. The June full moon is known as the Strawberry Moon. The relatively short picking season for strawberries occurs each year in the month of June, giving rise to the name of this moon. In Europe, the June full moon is also known as the Rose Moon.

Chris Pagan is planetarium director at Tulsa Air and Space Museum, www.tulsaairandspacemuseum.com

By Chris Pagan

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