Star*Points for July, 2013 Planets and a Meteor Shower Having passed the Summer Solstice in June, July finds us heading toward Winter Solstice next December as each night grows a little bit longer than the one preceding it. In Westminster by month's end, the sun rises 22 minutes later and sets 18 minutes earlier than it did on the 1st. Our night and the opportunity to observe the sky swells by 30 minutes. Venus remains visible low in the west-northwest as twilight fades in early July. It may just be coming into view around 8:45 p.m. 15 degrees above the horizon. Halfway up to the zenith is 45 degrees, so estimate about 1/3 of that angular distance. Around 30 minutes later in darker skies, the ringed planet Saturn becomes visible. It forms an interesting triangle with two naked-eye stars. Appearing high overhead is the bright star Arcturus. As you are facing southward look for fainter Saturn below Arcturus and the similarly bright star Spica to its lower right. You may confirm Saturn with almost any sized telescope. Even a low magnification will reveal its rings. To me, Arcturus appears yellow-orange, and there's a very good reason for that. Arcturus is an orange giant star with about 1,700 times the volume of our sun and a surface temperature of over 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Arcturus is located 37 light-years from earth in the direction of the constellation Bo”tes the herdsman. Spica seems white to my eye. It's a type of star called a subgiant 10 times as massive as sun, whose surface temperature is almost 40,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Spica is located 260 light-years away toward the constellation Virgo. For early risers looking up to the morning sky, Mars and Jupiter will be less than one degree apart on the morning of Monday, July 22. They should both fit within the same low power eyepiece field for most any telescope. Look for brighter Jupiter at 5:30 a.m. about 14 degrees above the horizon in the eastern sky. The two planets will be fairly close on the previous and following mornings as well making a good binocular target. What better time is there than summer to enjoy a meteor shower? In January this column mentioned July's upcoming Delta Aquarid meteor shower expected to peak on the night of Sunday, July 28-29. The best time for viewing is between midnight and dawn. This is a shower that may be visible most of the night with a waning 41% illuminated crescent moon that won't seriously interfere. The shower might not have a sharp peak and so could extend over the previous or following night. Set up a lawn chair or a reclining folding chair and get comfortable. Have a blanket or sleeping bag handy to maintain comfort and to help ward off any dew. Keep a binocular handy for observing any lasting glowing "trains" left by particularly bright meteors. According to the Astronomical Calendar 2013 "around 5-10% leave persistent trains." If you see one, study it with binoculars and watch how it rapidly twists in the high altitude winds high above the earth's surface. Although meteors may appear anywhere, you may prefer to be facing in the direction of the shower's "radiant" in the constellation Aquarius, just below the "great square" of Pegasus. The radiant is the point in the sky where the meteors appear to radiate from. If you're not familiar with these constellations, just face southward and you'll do all right.