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These next 2 months will be marked by beautiful planetary and stellar rapprochements. In particular, there will be 3 appointments with the star Regulus of Leo. This star is one of the brightest stars in the sky and its name comes from Latin and means “little king”. In reality, Regulus is a star system made up of four stars, arranged in two pairs that orbit around each other. On July 30, the Moon will be next to Leo Regulus just after sunset.
On August 4, it will be Mercury’s turn to visit Regulus with a very tight rapprochement. This rapprochement will not necessarily be easy to observe because it will really be in the lights of twilight. Finally, on September 5, it will be Venus’ turn to greet Regulus. It will be necessary to wait until the early morning to observe this pretty rapprochement, just before sunrise. In the notable reconciliations, we can cite that of Venus with the star cluster M35 in the early morning, that of the Moon and the star cluster M35 with the Moon on 8/22 and that of Mars and Aldebaran of Taurus on 9/7.
Jupiter and Saturn increasingly visible
We will see better and better the 2 queens of the planets, Jupiter and Saturn. At the end of July-beginning of August, it will be necessary to wait for the middle of the night to see them high on the horizon. At the end of August-beginning of September, it will be easy to observe them in the first part of the night. These 2 planets are much brighter than the surrounding stars and are easy to detect. If you have any doubts, you can wait for reconciliations with the Moon to find them. For Saturn, the ringed beauty will be close to the Moon on 7/16, 8/12, and 9/8. For Jupiter, we will have nice closes with our satellite on 7/19, 8/15 and 9/11. The Moon will also visit Mars on 7/21, 8/19, and 9/16.
August will be the month of shooting stars
Like every year, many shooting stars will be observable from July 14 to September 1. These are the famous Perseids which seem to come from the constellation Perseus. Throughout this period, the Earth passes through a vast cloud of cometary dust left by comet Swift Tuttle. In this cloud, the density is not homogeneous and is maximum at the center of the cloud. Thus on the night of August 11 to 12, the Earth will collide with a maximum of dust. You will then be able to see several shooting stars per hour. As a reminder, each shooting star is no bigger than a pea returning at the phenomenal speed of 210,000 km/h and then causing a beautiful luminous trail. The show will be a little more difficult to observe this year because there is a full moon. We should also see some pretty shooting stars on the nights of July 29-30 and July 30-1is August with two other minor swarms, the Southern Delta Aquariids and the Alpha Capricornids, appearing to come from the constellations Aquarius and Capricorn respectively.
A new astronomical telescope to be won!
I remind you that a new astronomical telescope is once again put into play thanks to our partners SSVI and RFI. To participate, send on our page Facebook Astronomy Africa your most beautiful photos or video or even a nice text that you have written. The winner will be announced monthly on October 15. Good comments. Good heavens to all and remember the sky is the biggest screen, just look up.