Whitby & District Astronomical Society

Venus and Jupiter remain extremely close to each other at the start of July, appearing in the same field of view at low telescopic magnification.  Venus, by far the brighter, will exhibit a distinct waning quarter phase. Jupiter will have its attendant Galilean moons close by (on the 1st Gamymede, Europa and Io will be on one side with Callisto very close to Jupiter on the other).  On the 18th a slim crescent moon lies lower right of Venus. From mid-month onwards both planets become increasingly challenging to spot and are pretty much lost in twilight by the month's end.

The outer gas worlds of Uranus and Neptune are visible in the early morning hours in Pisces and Aquarius respectively.  Earth is at Aphelion (furthest from Sun) on July 4th, a distance of around 95 million miles (152 million km)

A series of coronal mass ejection's (CMEs) hit Earth's magnetic field in the early morning hours of June 22nd, producing a severe G4-class geomagnetic storm and giving rise to quite a display of aurora (northern or southern lights).

Unfortunately much of the UK was clouded out and we missed out on the East coast. A second predicted display over the night of the 24/25th failed to live up to expectations, apparently taking place during daylight hours.

If you've sat out during the midnight hours of Summer twilight on Whitby's West Cliff looking for a hint of Aurora, you may wonder what you're hoping to recognise. This image taken by Martin McKenna is what you may see.

And here is Aurora captured in Wales by Huw James with a 15 second exposure.

Now you know what you're looking for, see if you can pick out a hint of Aurora in Mark's photo.

Even though we were unlucky in Whitby, as solar activity is quite high at present it is worth keeping a watchful eye on the sky and the Web, as further displays may be on the cards.

Useful link: Lancashire University Aurora Watch 

Early/mid July is the optimum time in which a display of Noctilucent cloud may be visible. These delicate formations, filamentary in structure and having a characteristic silvery-blue colour, appear in the twilight sky above the northern horizon, long after sunset, even after midnight.

It forms almost exclusively between latitudes 50 and 60 degrees north, high in the upper atmosphere: 50 miles up- five times higher than normal clouds. The cloud forms when water vapour condenses at the low temperatures that prevail at such altitudes onto particles suspended in the air.