Night Sky Highlights for July-September 2019
Solar System
Delta Aquariid meteors
Peaking on July 28
This shower is not as intense as the Perseids, but at least this year it occurs close to the time of a new Moon, so the sky will be dark. Under ideal conditions more than a dozen meteors per hour might be seen, but this shower favors viewers in the southern hemisphere.
Perseid Meteors
Peaking around August 12-13
This is probably the most popular meteor shower because of its reliability and it can produce over 60 meteors per hour at its peak. This year, there will be a bright gibbous Moon around the peak nights, which will light up the sky and limit the number of meteors that can be seen. Still, some of the brightest meteors should be visible, and viewing this shower on a warm August night is always an enjoyable experience.
Mercury
The best chance to observe Mercury this summer will be in the eastern sky before dawn in mid-August. It will be farthest from the Sun (19 degrees away) on August 9.
Venus
Venus will be too close to the Sun to be seen throughout most of the summer, but in mid-September is will begin to appear very low in the western sky right after sunset.
Jupiter
Throughout the summer, Jupiter will be the brightest object in the evening sky, and it will be an ideal target for observation with any telescope. Recently, Jupiter’s red spot has been spreading material into the south equatorial belt, which is something to look for when observing the planet.
Saturn
Saturn reaches opposition (rising just as the Sun sets) on July 9, so it will be ready for telescopic observing throughout the summer. Its rings are still wide open from our perspective, making them a great sight to observe.
Uranus
Located in Aries, Uranus will be visible in the early morning hours during the summer. To find it, you will need a finder chart such as the one in this article from the Sky & Telescope website:
www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/planets/ice-giants-neptune-and-uranus/
Neptune
The link above also has a finder chart for Neptune, which will reach opposition on September 10. The late summer and fall will be a good time to search for its small blue-green disk among the stars of Aquarius.
Deep Sky Objects
In addition to summertime favorites such as the Hercules cluster and the Ring Nebula, there are scores of other interesting targets to seek out. The objects listed below are not quite as popular, but they fun to track down and observe with telescopes of all sizes. If you need directions, click on any of the links below to get printable star-hop charts for these objects.
Messier 10 and 12
Globulars cluster in Ophiuchus
M10 and M12 are a pair of globular clusters about 3 degrees apart and similar in size and brightness. They are both about magnitude 6.6, making them good targets for telescopes of all sizes. Medium to large scopes will show hundreds of individual stars in both clusters. Star-hop chart
Messier 9 and 107
Globular clusters in Ophiuchus
These two globulars are in the southern part of Ophiuchus. They are not as large or bright as M10 and M12, but see how much resolution of individual stars you can get with high magnification. Star-hop chart
Messier 25
Open cluster in Sagittarius
This is a large and bright open cluster that can be easily seen in binoculars and is a fine sight in any telescope with a wide-field eyepiece. Star-hop chart
Messier 26
Open cluster in Scutum
M26 is located in the rich Milky Way clouds of Scutum. It is a group of 100 stars, about 9 arcminutes across. It contains an attractive mixture of bright and dim stars. Star-hop chart
Messier 54
Globular cluster in Sagittarius
Messier 54 is a unique object because it is one of just a few globular clusters that is easy to observe but not part of our own Milky Way galaxy. It resides beyond the far edge of our galaxy, near the center of a small satellite galaxy called the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy. The dwarf galaxy is one of the closest companions to the Milky Way galaxy. M54 is about 87,000 light years away. Star-hop chart
Messier 69 and 70
Globular clusters in Sagittarius
These two small globular clusters join M54 along the bottom edge of the Sagittarius teapot. Their individual stars cannot be resolved with small telescopes, but a few can be seen with larger scopes. Star-hop chart
Messier 97, the Owl Nebula
Planetary nebula in Ursa Major
The Owl Nebula is large but has a low surface brightness that makes it easy to miss if you don’t look carefully. Once you spot its faint circular glow, see if you can detect one or two of the dark spots that make up the owl’s eyes. They can be a challenge to see with even a fairly large scope. Star-hop chart
Messier 108
Galaxy in Ursa Major
This galaxy, about 32 million light years away, has a distinct oblong shape that should be visible in even a small scope. It is less than 1 degree away from the Owl Nebula, so finding one of these objects can help you find the other. Star-hop chart
NGC 6503
Galaxy in Draco
This galaxy is called a dwarf spiral because of its relatively small size, about 1/3 the diameter of the Milky Way galaxy. It is almost edge-on so appears elongated through a telescope, and is fairly bright and easy to spot. Star-hop chart