As the Sun sinks underground, the Moon is born. It first emerges on July 6, into a region of the sky as festive as a birthday cake with candles – Mercury, Venus, the twin stars of Gemini, the star cluster called the Beehive.
This action takes place only about 20° from the Sun, and at a low angle to the horizon (for north-hemisphere observers). We’re obliged to mention it! because it includes one of those tight formations we call a “trio.” Moon, Mercury, and the Beehive will fit into a circle reaching a minimum diameter of 3.20° on July 7 at 19h Universal Time (5 or more hours earlier by American clocks).
Comet Olbers, for which we gave on June 18 a historical note and a finder chart, is still a target for binoculars. It’s high in the constellation named for the Lynx, the wild cat with short tail and proverbially sharp eyes.
We read a few days ago that the lynx has been, in a sense, re-born: saved from local extinction in the forested mountains of south-eastern Europe by an EU-funded project of Slovenian and Croatian enthusiasts.
It may take lynx-like eyes to see the comet’s tail, the Beeive, or the day-old Moon.
__________
This weblog maintains its right to be about astronomy or anything under the sun.
ILLUSTRATIONS in these posts are made with precision but have to be inserted in another format. You may be able to enlarge them on your monitor.
One way: right-click, and choose ”View image” or ”Open image in new tab”, then enlarge. Or choose ”Copy image”, then put it on your desktop, then open it. On an iPad or phone, use the finger gesture that enlarges (spreading with two fingers, or tapping and dragging with three fingers). Other methods have been suggested, such as dragging the image to the desktop and opening it in other ways.
Sometimes I make improvements or corrections to a post after publishing it. If you click on the title, rather than on ‘Read more’, I think you are sure to see the latest version. Or, if you click ‘Refresh’ or press function key 5, you’ll see the latest version.