What's Up? July 2008

Many of the interesting June objects available to skywatchers and amateur astronomers are hanging around for July. There are also a few new opportunities for viewing objects of note.

Follow up:

• Planet-wise, it's a great time. Mars and Saturn are both in Leo at the moment, and on July 10th, Mars will pass within three-quarters of a degree from Saturn in the latest planetary conjunction. To add to the fun, Jupiter is rising a little earlier every night in Sagittarius - tonight it will rise just at sunset - so it'll increasingly be a feature of the eastern sky on our summer evenings.
• Just south of Leo comes Virgo, and in Virgo one can find the faint Sombrero Galaxy, M104. This faint galaxy is best seen in dark skies with a fair-sized (over 4 inch) telescope, and hunting it can be a challenge.
• Continuing the south and west brings us to globular cluster M5 in Serpens Caput, not difficult to find in binoculars, and excellent in a telescope.
• If you're interested in an open cluster, rising in the East is the Wild Duck Cluster M11, in Scutum (near the "tail" of Aquila). This is another that can be picked up in binoculars.
• Once the Summer Triangle is well up, look toward the eastern horizon for the obscure constellation Vulpecula. In this, you can find the faint planetary nebula M27, known as the Dumbell Nebula.
• Finally, once Sagittarius is up, you not only have Jupiter, but quite the collection of nebulas: M17, the Omega or Swan Nebula; M8, the Lagoon Nebula; and M20, the Trifid Nebula. All three are regions of current or recent star formation, so look for clusters of young stars in the midst of the fuzzy gas.
  The Omega and Lagoon nebulas are bright enough for a small telescope, but the Trifid is considerably fainter.