Fireworks Spectacular from July 4 to 11: Join the Radiant Night Sky Festivities!
Prepare your telescopes and binoculars, as July brings a stunning lineup of celestial events visible to the naked eye and through various instruments. Here's a guide to some of the most captivating sights gracing our night sky this month.
The Fireworks Galaxy, officially known as NGC 6946, is a spiral galaxy located approximately 22 million light-years away in the constellations Cepheus and Cygnus. Nicknamed the Fireworks Galaxy due to its remarkably high rate of supernovae, it has experienced 10 observable supernovae over the past century, with the most recent one occurring in 2017. This unusually high frequency of supernovae earns it its dynamic nickname. Through a telescope, the galaxy appears as a fuzzy, oval-shaped glow, with larger telescopes needed to observe details such as its spiral arms.
Moving on to our solar system, Mercury reached its greatest eastern elongation from the Sun on July 4th, making it observable in the evening sky near the Beehive Cluster. Meanwhile, Venus' 17"-wide disk is now 67 percent lit and visible about 8.4° below the Pleiades open cluster (M45) in the early-morning sky on July 9th.
Planet-gazers won't want to miss Neptune and Saturn, which are visible together in the early morning sky on July 5th. Neptune, a few hours before sunrise in the southeast, serves as a bright signpost to find the blue giant planet. Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, lies about 2.5' west of the ringed planet on the same date.
The July Full Moon rises in the southeast around the time the Sun is setting in the northwest on July 10th. On the same night, the Moon rises at its farthest point south in 18.6 years, some 7° more southerly than usual.
For those with good low-light vision and clear, light-pollution-free skies, the 15'-diameter open cluster NGC 7686 is visible to the naked eye. Through binoculars or any telescope, it appears as a triangular grouping of stars. However, astronomers have noted that NGC 7686 is more likely a superposition of many stars at different distances creating a visual overdensity, rather than a proper cluster.
Algol, also known as the Demon Star, is visible two hours before sunrise on July 11th, standing 30° high in the east, to the upper left of the Pleiades. Meanwhile, the two stars in the Albireo system, both a few times the mass of the Sun and taking about 100 years to orbit each other, are observable on July 6th.
Finally, the Moon passes 0.4° south of the red giant star Antares in Scorpius on July 7th. Antares, the alpha star of Scorpius, is often depicted as the heart of the Scorpion and is a red supergiant some 550 light-years away.
So, grab your telescopes and binoculars, and enjoy the celestial wonders this July has in store!
References: [1] https://www.space.com/31887-nasa-hubble-space-telescope-galaxy-ngc-6946.html [2] https://www.space.com/15305-supernova-explosion-galaxy-ngc-6946.html [3] https://www.space.com/26089-nasa-hubble-supernova-galaxy-ngc-6946.html
- The Fireworks Galaxy, also known as NGC 6946, is a spiral galaxy located in the constellations Cepheus and Cygnus, approximately 22 million light-years away.
- Through a telescope, the Fireworks Galaxy appears as a fuzzy, oval-shaped glow, with larger telescopes needed to observe its spiral arms.
- In our solar system, Mercury reached its greatest eastern elongation from the Sun on July 4th, making it observable in the evening sky near the Beehive Cluster.
- Venus' 17"-wide disk is now 67 percent lit and visible about 8.4° below the Pleiades open cluster (M45) in the early-morning sky on July 9th.
- On July 5th, Neptune and Saturn are visible together in the early morning sky. Neptune serves as a bright signpost to find the blue giant planet, while Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, lies about 2.5' west of the ringed planet on the same date.
- The July Full Moon rises in the southeast around the time the Sun is setting in the northwest on July 10th, and on the same night, it rises at its farthest point south in 18.6 years.
- For those with good low-light vision and clear, light-pollution-free skies, the 15'-diameter open cluster NGC 7686 is visible to the naked eye, appearing as a triangular grouping of stars through binoculars or any telescope.
