Viewing the Late Summer and Autumn Sky

This year, in addition to several bright stars and constellations, the late spring, summer, and early autumn skies have several special events in store for stargazers to view and enjoy, including eclipses, meteor showers, four naked-eye planets, and the possibility of an aurora.

Planets
Four of our planetary neighbors will be visible during portions of the next several months. The first half of June finds the closest planet to the Sun, Mercury, hovering very low in the west-northwest immediately after sunset. Mercury is always a challenge to spot because it is never visible in a dark sky—only in evening and morning twilight. Its appearance in June, however, marks the best chance for those of us in the northern hemisphere to spot this elusive world this year. The thin crescent Moon will be found just to the south of Mercury on June 3, which may help point the way. Slowly scanning the area with binoculars can also help.

Apart from the June appearance of Mercury, the late spring and summer evening skies are planet-free. Early risers, however, will see Jupiter and Saturn low in the eastern predawn sky beginning in July. Each month, both planets will rise about two hours earlier, so that by summer's end they will be well up in the east by midnight. Both planets will dominate the evening sky this fall and winter, with each residing near the other within the constellation of Taurus, the Bull.

Finally, the planet Venus will begin to appear in the early evening twilight by the end of summer. Look for a brilliant "evening star" right after sunset. By the end of autumn, Venus will have pulled away from the Sun in our sky to stand high above the western horizon as evening twilight fades, a position it will hold throughout the winter as well.

Three Eclipses
Three eclipses—two of the Sun and one of the Moon—will occur during July. The last month to feature two solar eclipses was way back in December 1880, with the next not occurring until December 2206. Now that's rare!

Unfortunately, the first—a partial eclipse of the Sun on July 1—will be seen only from the far southeastern corner of the Pacific Ocean, with the southernmost tip of South America the only land being affected.

The second solar eclipse, another partial event, will be visible from the states in the Pacific Northwest, western Canada, Alaska, much of Greenland, and the northern third of Russia. Observers in the United States and Canada should note that the eclipse will be visible locally in the late afternoon or early evening on July 30. As for the rest of North America, don't feel left out. The entire continent will witness a partial eclipse of the Sun this year on Christmas afternoon.

A caution for both events: NEVER look at the Sun directly, either during a partial eclipse or, for that matter, on any sunny day. Doing so can cause permanent damage to your eye or even blindness! To watch the progress of a partial solar eclipse with just your eyes, construct a pinhole projector from two pieces of cardboard. Punch a small hole about the diameter of a pencil in one of the pieces, and glue or tape a piece of white paper onto the other. By holding the pieces toward the sky so that sunlight shines through the hole, a tiny image of the solar disk will be cast onto the paper.

In between these solar events, the Moon will pass through Earth's shadow on July 15, causing a total lunar eclipse that will be best seen from eastern Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Stargazers in the western parts of North and South America will also see a portion of the eclipse, although the Moon will set early that morning while still immersed in Earth's shadow.