Translate this page ►►
Manchester Astronomical Society
Established 1903
manastro Journal for the Month
In the Sky for the next few weeks:-
The Moon
New Moon on 2nd July
Full (Strawberry) Moon on 16th July
There is a partial lunar eclipse on 16th July from 21:25 to 01:17, with a maximum at 22:31
Planet of the month
Saturn
Diameter: 120536 km 9.449 Earths
Mass: 95.16 Earths
Density: 0.62 g/cc (water=1)
Gravity: 1.07 G
Rotation Period: 0.43 days = 0d 10h 14m 00s
© Image by Anthony Jennings
Saturn is at opposition this month on the 9th, but still very low in the sky with a maximum altitude of approx. 14.6˚ so a good view south is essential.
Noctilucent Clouds
June and July are "Noctilucent Cloud" (NLC) season - keep your eyes skyward for the rewarding sight of this annual phenomena. The show has already begun - the following image © Tucker Shannon of Corvallis, Oregon, USA was downloaded from Spaceweather.com
Constellation of the Month: Aquila (shown 15th July 01:45)
Aquila constellation is located near the celestial equator. The constellation’s name means “the eagle” in Latin. The constellation represents the eagle of the Roman god Jupiter in mythology. It was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century.
Aquila is home to two very famous stars, Altair and Tarazed, as well as to several interesting deep sky objects: the planetary nebulae NGC 6803, NGC 6804, NGC 6781 and the Phantom Streak Nebula (NGC 6741), the open clusters NGC 6709 and NGC 6755, and the dark nebula B143-4.
NGC 6741 Phantom Streak Nebula
Astro Project
With the summer solstice coming up on 21st June, why not try and build a Solargraph camera to record the sun’s travel over the next 6 months, easy to make with just a drink can, pin & photographic paper -
See how-to-make-a-pinhole-camera.
Hopefully results from the last 6 months camera currently on the roof of the Godlee observatory available next month.
Members Recent Images
© Dave Walker Sun 03-06-19
© Phil Swift Crescent Nebula NGC 6888 04-06-19
© Phil Swift Veil Nebula NGC 6960 07-06-19
Godlee visits June/July 2019
There are currently no planned visits to the Godlee Observatory this month
