MOON CONJUNCTION JUNCTION

DEAN:
HEY THERE STARGAZERS, I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER

FOR THE CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY.

JAMES:
AND IM JAMES ALBURY DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA SILVA

PLA PLANETARIUM
IN GAINESVILLE,

FLORIDA AND WERE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR
WAY AROUND THE SKY.

DEAN:
LONG-TIME STAR GAZERS OUT THERE MAY KNOW THAT

JAMES GETS VERY EXCITED DURING CONJUNCTIONS.

AND HE AUTOMATICALLY STARTS DANCING.

JAMES:
WHENEVER THE MOON APPEARS NEXT TO

A PLANET,
OR TWO OR MORE PLANETS COME TOGETHER,

IT'S CALLED A CONJUNCTION.

AND THESE ARE SUCH EXCITING ASTRONOMICAL ALIGNMENTS
THAT I JUST CAN'T HELP MYSELF.

DEAN:
AND WITH THAT INFORMATION,

AND THE DREADED ANTICIPATION OF THE DANCE
PARTIES TO COME, I HESITATE TO EVEN MENTION

THIS BUT

JAMES:
YES???

DEAN:
OVER THE PERIOD OF

TWO SHORT WEEKS,
THE MOON WILL APPROACH ALL FIVE OF THE NAKED-EYE

PLANETS.

JAMES:
YOU MEAN ?

DEAN:
YES, THE MOON WILL

PASS NEAR MERCURY,
VENUS, JUPITER,

SATURN, AND FINALLY

JAMES:
MARS!

DEAN:
YEP.

THAT'S FIVE CONJUNCTIONS BETWEEN

OH MY, WELL

LET'S HEAD TO THE SKY...

DEAN:
OH GOOD, YOU'RE ALIVE!

JAMES:
OF COURSE,

I'M NOT GOING TO LET
A LITTLE SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION GET IN

THE WAY OF SEEING THE FIVE CONJUNCTIONS BETWEEN
JULY 14TH

AND 27TH.

DEAN:
EXCELLENT!

LETS START ON JULY 14TH FOR CONJUNCTION #1.

THIS WILL BE THE TOUGHEST OF THE FIVE SINCE
WERE DEALING WITH MERCURY HERE.

MERCURY NEVER STRAYS FAR FROM THE SUN AND
SO YOU CAN ONLY

SEE IT JUST,
AND I MEAN JUST

AFTER SUNSET.

JAMES:
LOOK WEST AS THE SUN DIPS BELOW THE HORIZON

FOR THE SLIMMEST CRESCENT MOON
YOU'LL EVER SEE.

JUST BELOW IT IS
A TINY DOT.

THAT DOT IS THE
PLANET MERCURY.

DEAN:
CONJUNCTION #2 WILL OCCUR ON THE VERY

NEXT NIGHT.

JULY 15TH JUST AFTER SUNSET THE MOON WILL
APPROACH THE DAZZLING PLANET VENUS.

JAMES:
VENUS AND THE MOON MAKE A LOVELY PAIR

IN THE TWILIGHT.

BUT KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THEM BECAUSE AS THE
NIGHT ROLLS ON,

AND THE SUN SETS
IN THE WEST,

THE MOON WILL GET EVEN CLOSER TO VENUS BEFORE
THEY BOTH GO BELOW THE HORIZON.

DEAN:
NOW WERE FACING SOUTHWEST AT 10:30PM AND YOU

CANT MISS SPOTTING JUPITER ABOUT HALFWAY UP
IN THE SKY.

IT IS INCREDIBLY BRIGHT!

JUPITER IS BY FAR THE LARGEST PLANET IN OUR
SOLAR SYSTEM AND SHINES LIKE A STEADY, CREAM-COLORED

STAR.

JAMES:
LET'S ADVANCE OUR TIME, DAY BY DAY,

NIGHT BY NIGHT.

ON JULY 16TH
17TH

AND 18TH

THE MOON STARTS APPEARING CLOSER
TO JUPITER.

ON JULY 19TH, ITS CLOSER STILL.

AND

DEAN:
I FEEL A CONJUNCTION

#3 COMING ON!

JAMES:
ON JULY 20TH,

WE'VE GOT A CONJUNCTION!

DEAN:
SO COOL!

NOW I KNOW THE MOON AND JUPITER LOOK LIKE
THEY'RE CLOSE TOGETHER.

BUT THE MOON IS ABOUT 240,000 MILES
FROM EARTH,

WHILE JUPITER IS A WHOPPING 465 MILLION MILES
AWAY.

DEAN:
OKAY, TWO MORE CONJUNCTIONS TO GO.

WE'RE FACING SOUTH
AT 11:30PM.

JAMES:
THE FAINTER OF THE

TWO PLANETS IN THIS PART OF THE SKY IS ON
THE RIGHT.

IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE A STEADY, YELLOW-COLORED
STAR.

IF IT WASN'T ALMOST
850 MILLION MILES AWAY IT WOULD EASILY OUTSHINE

ANY OTHER PLANET.

DEAN:
THIS FAR-FLUNG PLANET

IS SATURN.

AND IT MAY NOT LOOK LIKE MUCH TO THE NAKED
EYE, BUT IT LOOKS UNBELIEVABLY AWESOME IN

A TELESCOPE.

JAMES:
DEAN IS SO EXCITED TO SEE SATURN THAT HE ALMOST

DANCES!

DEAN:
IF WE ADVANCE THE DATE TO JULY 24TH THE MOON

COZIES UP NEXT
TO SATURN.

JAMES:
SO THAT LEAVES CONJUNCTION #5.

DEAN:
YES, AND FOR THAT WE NEED TO LOOK AT THAT

BRIGHT, REDDISH LIGHT IN THE SOUTHEAST.

ITS BRIGHTER THAN MERCURY.

BRIGHTER THAN SATURN.

BRIGHTER THAN EVEN JUPITER RIGHT NOW.

IT IS THE PLANET MARS.

JAMES:
MARS IS MAKING ITS CLOSEST APPROACH TO EARTH

ON JULY 27,
AND THAT MEANS ALL

THIS MONTH AND NEXT MONTH,
IT WILL LOOK SUPER-BRIGHT IN THE SKY.

DEAN:
I'M GLAD YOU MENTIONED JULY 27 BECAUSE ON

THAT NIGHT

JAMES:
NO WAY!

DEAN:
YES WAY!

THE FULL MOON SLIDES OVER AND WILL BE JUST
ABOVE THE RED PLANET.

JAMES:
SO NOT ONLY WILL MARS BE AT ITS BRIGHTEST,

IT WILL HAVE THE FULL MOON NEARBY.

DEAN:
YES SIR!

DEAN:
SO THAT'S FIVE

MOON-PLANET CONJUNCTIONS IN
13 NIGHTS OF VIEWING.

THE MOON TOUR PASSES BY MERCURY ON JULY 14

JAMES:
VENUS ON JULY 15

DEAN:
JUPITER ON JULY 20

JAMES:
SATURN ON JULY 24...

DEAN:
AND MARS ON JULY 27.

AND YOU CAN SEE IT ALL WHEN YOU

BOTH:
KEEP LOOKING UP!