William Atkins
Sunday, 29 June 2008 22:15
Science -
Space
Page 1 of 3
During the first ten days of July 2008, the two planets Mars and Saturn and the bright star Regulus will be seen low in the western sky after dusk and into the evening, less than one-third the way up from the horizon.
Starting on
June 30th, Mars will be above and to the right of the star Regulus, which is in the constellation Leo the Lion, while Saturn will be above and to the left of Regulus.
Regulus, or
Alpha Leonis, is the brightest star in the constellation Leo. It is also one of the brightest stars in the night sky on Earth. It is a rather young star, only a few hundred million years in age, with about 3.5 times the mass of our Sun. Regulus has a highly oblate shape due to its high rate at which it spins on its axis. It spins once every 15.9 hours.
The next night,
July 1st, yellow-orangish-colored Mars will be almost directly above bluish-colored Regulus.
While celebrating the
Fourth of July, please note that the Earth will be at its furthest distance from the Sun, what is called aphelion.
On
July 5th, still in the western sky, about an hour after sunset, a waxing crescent Moon will be seen below Regulus, Mars, and Saturn. All of them will be in a straight line: in order of appearance: Moon-Regulus-Mars-Saturn—from lower right to upper left.
Mars will be positioned almost exactly in between Regulus and Saturn. Check them out before 10 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), at which time they will set under the horizon.
Check out a picture of Regulus, Mars, Saturn, and the Moon at Space.com:
July 5th .
Further information for July is found on the next page.
