Here's this month's 'Night Sky' newsletter from Cosmic Pursuits for July 2020!

 

1. Venus finds itself tangled in the Hyades star cluster at mid-month while Jupiter and Saturn reach their closest approach to Earth this year. The Milky Way arcs gloriously overhead while a fine southern meteor shower closes out the month. Here's what's going on in the Night Sky This Month.

 

2. From now through September is the best time to observe Jupiter in 2020. Our annual observing guide helps you understand what to look for and how to see it.

 

3. A week after Jupiter reaches opposition, Saturn also makes its closest approach and puts on its best show of the year. And yes, I have an observing guide for that also.

 

4. Note to get your hopes up, but another promising comet is on its way to the inner solar system. If its survives its close encounter with the Sun, it could be an impressive object. We shall wait and see...!

 

5. My latest detailed guide for hands-on observers, which I wrote for Agena Astroproducts, covers the subject of 'Electronically-Assisted Astronomy', or as I like to call it, 'snapshot astrophotography'.

 

6. For northern-hemisphere observers, this is the best time of year to see noctilucent clouds, icy clouds in the upper reaches of the atmosphere that catch the rays of the setting Sun.

 

7. Cosmologist Sean Carroll, on the 100th episode of his excellent podcast, contemplates the meaning of life.

 

8. Canadian researchers discovered another intriguing radio burst from a very distant galaxy. Four days of random radio waves, then twelve days of silence. Rinse, repeat. Marina Koren at The Atlantic explains what it may be all about.

 

9. A promising sign that amateur astronomy isn't just for old folks: a profile of a  17-year old telescope maker who can't get enough of the night sky.

 

10. And finally a little astronomy music: the erstwhile surfer and singer/songwriter Jack Johnson plays slack-key guitar and sings of the constellations with a little help from Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder. Enjoy!

 

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Clear Skies!

 

Brian Ventrudo

Publisher