Space and Astronomy

The Planets and Special Events

A Public Star Party with telescopes provided by the Los Angeles Astronomical Society and the Los Angeles Sidewalk Astronomers will take place on the front lawn of the Griffith Observatory from 2 p.m. until 9:45 pm on Saturday July 13..

Venus (Mag -3.9) is low in the East at dawn.

Jupiter (Mag -2.5) can be seen in the south at twilight.

Mars (Mag +1.8) is very low in the West at sunset and difficult to see.

Saturn (Mag +0.1) is visible in the southeast after susnset. It is well placed for viewing all night long. The rings are tilted over 20 degrees and it is at it's closest to Earth at a mere 840 million miles.

Reprinted with permission, the information above is made available in the Griffith Observer , a monthly publication by the Griffith Observatory. For complete information on the Planets and other items related to Astronomy, please visit the Griffith Observatory Web Site.

The theory that our Sun is the center of the universe and our planets revolve around it was first documented by Nicolas Copernicus. The interesting thing is that Copernicus was a Catholic Priest and Philosopher, not an Astronomer. But he believed that God would have made the movements of the planets more simple than the previously documented theory (which was very complex). As we know today, Corpernicus was right !

• Your Place In Space: A nice article by Bill Nye in The Planetary Report featuring one of my photos
• Astronomy Picture Of The Day
• Want to see a Sattelite or the Space Station fly by ?
• Read about Solar Flares and Solar Wind
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration