By Tre Gibbs, LAAS

This month, two planets rule the evening skies.   Mars, The God of War and Saturn, the jewel of our Solar System.

Both appear in our night skies during the latter part of twilight, with Mars poised high in the western sky, and Saturn, almost directly over head and to the south.  Mars is fairly obvious, since it looks like a very bright, non-twinkling “star” with a slight reddish/pinkish hue, while Saturn is well disguised. It’s to the left of Mars, but It’s so far away (over 800 million miles or 75 light minutes) that it looks like a regular, average star – only on closer inspection, one can begin to see that it 1) doesn’t twinkle and 2) it has a beige hue, rather than the twinkling, bluish-white stars nearby.  If you are lucky enough to be near a telescope or a pair of good binoculars, you will be able to make out Saturn’s oval shape due to it’s gorgeous ring system – as well as it’s largest moon Titan.

Speaking of moons…

Our moon travels along the same path of the sky as does our sun and the planets. This path is known as “The Ecliptic” (which is why and where we have “eclipses”).  The moon plays a game of cosmic peek-a-boo with Mars on the evening of the 5th.  Beginning around 830 pm, just as it begins to get dark, go outside and watch the 1st quarter moon high in the south and you will see it slowly “reveal” Mars as the moon inches toward the east. By nightfall, Mars will be the bright pink-ish “star” just to the right of the moon. The very next night, July 6th, the moon is poised smack dab in between Mars and Saturn.
Then on the 7th, the moon will slip past Saturn, again, revealing it from behind in a game of cosmic peek-a-boo! See how the moon helps you find Saturn? But using binoculars and/or a telescope will give you a much more detailed look – and you won’t have to wait for the moon to do it’s thing.

Weather permitting, these would be great nights to view the night sky and marvel at the wonders that happen above our heads.  Have a great summer everyone and we will return in September!