Today in Astronomy History

July 3, 1841
John Couch Adams decides on this date to determine the position of an unknown planet by examining the irregularities in the motion of Uranus. It takes him 4 years to do the work.

July 3, 2006
Asteroid named 2004 XP14 flies within 268,624 miles of Earth.

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July 2009

The Full Moon for July occurs on July 7^th, and is known as the Full Buck Moon or Thunder Moon. Also, since it is the closest Full Moon to the Summer Solstice, it can be known as the Honey Moon.

July 7 1:40am-3:30am (PDT) - Movie shows the slight penumbral Lunar Eclipse as viewed from Los Angeles. Each frame is one minute.

In the very early morning hours of July 7^th a very slight Penumbral Lunar Eclipse will be visible from the Pacific rim, including western South America, the West Coast of Mexico and South Western United States, Hawaii, New Zealand, eastern Australia and the Pacific side of Antartica.

July 7 1:40am-3:30am (PDT) - Movie shows Earth and Sun as viewed from Moon during the slight penumbral Lunar Eclipse. Each frame is one minute.

The New Moon for July is Tuesday, July 21^st. This will make the weekend of July 18-19^th as the best weekend for dark sky observing.

Earth reaches its Aphelion on July 4, 2009

The Aphelion is the point in Earth's elliptical orbit that it is furthest from the Sun. This is the opposite point to the Perihelion when the Earth is at its closest point to the Sun, which occurs in January.

Total Solar Eclipse

Depending on the location on Earth, there is a Total Solar Eclipse on July 21^st or 22^nd. Visible from Eastern China, Japan and the South Western Pacific, the eclipse crosses the International Date Line.

Movie shows the Total SolarEclipse as viewed from the Moon. Each frame is one minute. The Shadow of the moon Crosses Eastern China, Japan, and the South West Pacific.

Movie shows the Total SolarEclipse as viewed from Japan. Each frame is one minute.

Mercury is visible the first few days of July in the morning hours. By July 4^th, Mercury disappears into the glare of the sunrise and reappears on the evening side of the Sun around July 24^th. After July 24^th Mercury continues to move in better position for viewing until August 24^th when Mercury reaches its Greatest Eastern Elongation.

July 1^st Sunrise - Mercury's position in the morning at the beginning of the month. Mercury disappears into the glare of the Sun around July 4^th.

Mercury begins the month in the constellation Taurus (The Bull), and on July 3^rd, crosses into the constellation Gemini (The Twins). Then behind the glare of the Sun, Mercury crosses Gemini until July 16^th when it moves into Cancer (The Crab), and after Mercury re-emerges in the evening, it moves finally into the constellation Leo (The Lion) on July 26, where it will spend the rest of July.

July 31 - Mercury
July 31 Sunset - By the end of the month, Mercury is visible in the
evening. Mercury re-emerges from the glare of the Sun around July 24^th.

Venus is visible as the Morning Star for the entire month of July. Venus begins this month in the constellation Taurus (The Bull) until the end of the month. On July 29 Venus crosses into the constellation Orion (The Hunter) where it will stay until the last few minutes of July and it crosses into the constellation Gemini (The Twins).

July 4 - Venus and M45
On July 4^th Venus will pass within 7° of the asterism Pleiades (M45).

July 18 - Venus, Mars, M45, Moon
On July 18^th Venus, Mars, the asterism Pleiades (M45) and the waning, crescent Moon are group together within 16° of each other.

On July 19^th Venus rises within 6°45' of the waning, crescent Moon.

Mars can be observed in the morning hours above Venus in July. At the beginning of the month Mars is only about 4° above Venus and as the month progresses Venus continues to move further away until the end of the month they are about 16° apart.

Mars starts the month in the constellation Aries (The Ram) and on July 2^nd moves into the constellation Taurus (The Bull) where it will spend the rest of July.

Mars rises around 2:45 am (PDT) at the first of the Month and by the end of July Mars rises at 2:00am.

On July 12th, Mars passes within 4°45' of the asterism Pleiades (M45).

July 18 - Mars and Moon
On July 18^th, the waning, crescent Moon will pass within 5° of Mars.

The planet Jupiter is found in the constellation Capricornus (The Sea Goat until January 2010. Moving in retrograde motion this month, Jupiter is observable from the late evening hours until sunrise.

At the beginning of July, Jupiter rises around 10:46 pm (PDT) and at the end of the month Jupiter is rising around 8:40 pm (PDT).

July 10 - Jupiter and Neptune
On July 10^th, Jupiter passes within 0°30’ of the planet Neptune and
about 6°15' of the waning, gibbous Moon.

The planet Saturn is visible in the evening all month. At the beginning of July Saturn sets around 11:45 pm (PDT) and by the end of the month Saturn sets around 9:15 pm (PDT). Saturn is located in the constellation Leo (The Lion) until September.

On July 24^th, the waxing, crescent Moon sets about 8° below Saturn.

The planet Uranus is found in the constellation Pisces (The Fish) until October. At the start of July Uranus rises around midnight and by the end of the month Uranus rises around 10:00 pm (PDT).

On July 12th, Uranus rises within 4°30' of the waning, gibbous Moon.

Neptune is located in the constellation Capricornus (The Sea Goat) until the year 2010. For the entire month of July, Neptune rises within a few minutes of Jupiter. At the beginning of the month Neptune rises around 10:45 pm (PDT) and by the end of July Neptune rises around 8:45 pm (PDT). Neptune is currently moving in retrograde motion.

July 10 - Jupiter and Neptune
On July 10^th, Jupiter passes within 0°30' of the planet Neptune and
about 6°15' of the waning, gibbous Moon.

Pluto is found in the constellation Sagittarius (The Archer) until the year 2023. Moving in retrograde motion this month, Pluto sets around 5:25 am (PDT) at the beginning of July, and by the end of the month, Pluto sets around 3:20 am (PDT).

July 15 - Pluto
July 15 evening - Relative position, in the South East, of Pluto for
the month of July.