Fireworks in the Sky

7/3 05 – 7/9/05

by C. Zaitz

Did you see the show? Don’t worry, it’s still going on. Like a slow, far-away fireworks display, the planets and Sun will make a little show all week.

Michigan summer sunsets come late, but they'll come pretty this July. Our girl Venus is lingering in the twilight, like a diamond pin on the Sun’s multicolored robes as it sinks below the horizon. She’s not alone, though she does try to outshine her companions. Mercury was never one to put himself forward, always lurking in the Sun’s glow. On the evening of the 9th, however, he'll be about as far from the Sun as he can get. He can be seen very close to Venus as the Sun's light drains from the sky. Saturn has been taking his final bows as he hurtles toward conjunction with the Sun. This means that soon (July 23rd) Saturn will be directly behind the Sun from our point of view, completely out of sight. Saturn has been a faithful sky object all winter and spring, but now he leaves the stage to Jupiter and the Venus-Mercury pair at sunset. If you miss Saturn, I highly recommend a visit to the Cassini-Huygens website: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm. You’ll get the best view possible of Saturn and its moons from the incredible Cassini probe.

Speaking of fireworks and probes, in a departure from usual NASA policy we have sent a probe out in space for the express purpose of crashing into something! The mission is Deep Impact, its destination is a comet, and the crash date is July 4th! Imagine the “fireworks” when the 800 pound impactor space probe hurtles into Comet Tempel 1 at a speed of 22 mph! Ice will fly, and that is the intention. It’s not an easy feat - imagine trying to hit a tumbling potato with a grain of salt from a mile away. That’s the job of the impactor (on a bit larger scale) as it leaves the rest of the probe and heads toward the comet. The remaining part of the probe will be watching the display from a safe distance, making calculations, taking pictures and emailing them to Earth. Surprisingly, there is a lot of information to be gained from smashing things into comets. You can learn all about the Deep Impact mission at NASA’s website: http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html. Though you won’t be able to see this event with the naked eye, watch for it on the news. Don’t forget, it’s not too late for AstroCamp- call me at the Planetarium to sign up your camper!
Until next week, my friends, enjoy the view!