Eyes on the Night Sky – July 2023

Sam Price — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 12:26:13 +0000

July is a lovely time to get out and look up – make the most of the warm, summer evenings and enjoy the spectacle of night sky objects for the unaided eyes, binoculars and telescopes.

Astronomical darkness returns on 25^th July in the early hours of the morning (1.34am-3.39am) for stargazers who like to hunt ‘faint fuzzies’ and see the Milky Way in all its glory. Look to the south-west after 1.30 am and look for a cloudy band of faint stars arching up into the sky – the darker the sky, be more detail you will see.

July Constellations

The best time of night to view the night sky is around midnight, where Cygnus the Swan and Hercules will be well-placed. The Square of Pegasus can be seen rising in the east and Virgo sets in the west. The constellations of Ophiuchus and Aquila can be seen in the south, with Sagittarius low on the horizon.

There is still time to catch a glimpse of noctilucent clouds. Although the season has been a fairly quiet one so far, forecasting these night shining clouds, positioned in the mesosphere, is very difficult and we could yet see an amazing display.

You can download the printable constellation map from here (credit: Dominic Ford, author in-the-sky.org).

The Full Moon occurs on 3 July and the New Moon on 17 July.

The Planets

Venus

The best time to see Venus is after sunset during the early part of the month – look towards the west and look for a bright star-like object near the horizon. Venus is in crescent phase and it is worth looking at this planet through a telescope. During the first week of the month, Mars and Venus will pass close to each other.

Image: Venus’ phases by Statis Kalyvas – VT-2004 programme.

Mars

This planet is well positioned during the first week of July – also low on the western horizon and will emerge at dusk.

On 10^th July, try to spot Regulus, a star in the constellation of Leo right underneath Mars. The best time to see this is an hour after sunset. This Mars-Regulus conjunction occurs roughly once every two years.

Jupiter

The best time to see Jupiter is during the second half of the month – it rises in the east at around 2am at the start of the month and at midnight towards the end.

Saturn

Rises in the east at midnight at the start of the month and 10.15pm at the end.

On 7^th July for those who like to stay up late, the Moon and Saturn will appear close to each other; the Moon passing 4 degrees south of the planet. Look to the south-east at around 1am. You can see this with the unaided eye and if you have a telescope, view Saturn’s rings and a few of its moons.

Deep Sky Objects

M11 Wild Duck Cluster
RA: 18h 51m 05.0s | Dec −06° 16′ 12″

This open cluster might be a bit of a challenge to find, so find a dark sky, away from population centres. If you are able to spot this, congratulate yourself, as it’s the farthest object that can be seen with the unaided eye. It looks like a faint cloud with the unaided eye but through binoculars, you can see the faint patch of light in more detail. Only through a telescope will you be able to see the separate stars, resembling something fairly close to the image on the right. Messier 11 is 6,197 light years away from us.

Nestled near the Milky Way in the constellation of Scutum, it can be found by looking for the three starred- head of Aquila the Eagle, the brightest star being Altair. Follow the body of this Eagle constellation down to its tail and the very faint cluster lies in the four-o clock position.

Messier 13 – The Great Cluster in Hercules
RA 16h 41m 41s | Dec +36° 27′ 35″

Two deep sky objects to note is the stunning Great Cluster in Hercules (M13) and M92, both globular clusters lying 22,180 and 26,740 light years away respectively. M13 contains 300,000 stars and M92, around 330,000.

Despite M13 being much brighter, containing slightly less stars than its neighbour, it has double the radius and is closer to us. You can find these two clusters with binoculars, appearing as fuzzy objects and through a telescope you may see individual stars that look almost like a sparkling cluster of diamonds.

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Monumental Mounds and Bumps in the Ground

Sam Price — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 12:10:01 +0000

Monumental Mounds and

Bumps in the Ground

Craig Cnwch Stones

The Elan Valley has a surprisingly large number of archaeological sites, many having been recorded only recently as part of the Elan Links scheme and others discovered by volunteers walking the lesser trod uplands. Discernible as earth banks, ditches and clusters of stone there is a rich history of people having settled, lived, died and entombed across the estate.

Craig Cnwch Stones

From our prehistoric ancestors who first farmed the uplands and buried their dead on the terraces of the hills and mountains to the masses of medieval people building houses on the fringes of the valleys there are tantalizing clues if you know where to look and what you are looking for.

Craig Cnwch Stones are part of the Craig Cnwch prehistoric monument complex of five round barrows (cairns), three possible clearance cairns and five or six standing stones within the area.

(Photo Credit: Trysor heritage services)

The probable Bronze Age Cairn Ricet, although appearing on early maps had almost disappeared from the modern record and was threatened by off road vehicle traffic.

(Photo Credit: Trysor heritage services)

Surveyed by Trysor Heritage Services and made visible by the snows of early 2023, a trial excavation has determined its survival below the turf.

Often the dense swath of bracken can hide archaeological features such as earthworks and early house platforms. Sometimes the bracken’s uniform height shows the contours of the earthworks beneath, such as this example near Pen y Garreg reservoir captured as part of the Trysor survey. (photo credit: Trysor heritage services)

Some platforms are so slight that they are easily missed, especially when, for example, they have a wire fence across them! This is one of a number of medieval or post medieval house platforms that sit below the Claerwen dam. Low sunlight often helps to see these features , exaggerating their shadows, so it’s often a combination of knowing where and when to look. Next issue I will point out some other ways to ‘see’ the archaeology to reveal some of the hidden history of the area.

You can learn more about the archaeology of Elan and recent discoveries at the Festival of Archaeology and History over the last weekend of July at the Visitors Center. There are still upcoming opportunities to take part in training workshops and volunteer for community excavations, to get hands on with the history of Elan Valley, please contact me via gary.ball@elanvalley.org.uk for more details.

Gary Ball, Engagement Education and Events Officer: Heritage
Elan Links

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June 2023 | Elan Valley