Mon Jul 13, 2026 CAPTAIN COOK AND THE TRANSIT OF VENUS
Today’s Skywatch was written by my student assistant, Isabella Gargiulo. On July 13th, 1769, Captain James Cook departed from Tahiti aboard the HMS Endeavor following a less than successful viewing of the transit of Venus. Transits are rare occasions when a planet like Mercury or Venus passes directly between us and the sun, and can be seen as a small, black dot moving slowly across its face. Not only was Cook a famed navigator, but quite a skilled astronomer; he brought along many astronomical instruments. The sky was clear on the day of the transit, but Cook had a hard time accurately collecting data due to the “black drop effect”. This drop-like shape around the planet Venus, which occurs from haziness in Earth’s atmosphere, made it difficult to mark a proper timeline. The Royal Society was disappointed with these findings, even though this same "black-drop" problem was experienced worldwide. If you’d like to see Venus for yourself, it’s currently visible in the western evening sky.
Tue Jul 14, 2026 VEGA IN THE EAST – VULTUR CADENS
This evening, look toward the east. There’s a bright star over there – its name is Vega, and it’s the fifth brightest star in the night sky. Vega’s name comes from an old Arabic word meaning, “falling, (or “swooping,) eagle (or vulture)”. Vega is part of an ancient star pattern known as vultur cadens, which also means, “falling vulture,” although the official constellation here is Lyra, the Harp. On star charts you can sometimes see it pictured as a vulture with a harp inscribed within it. Above Vega are some fainter stars which trace out a simple letter H. The H stands for Hercules, and for his sixth labor, this mythical Greek hero shot arrows at this vulture, and also at two nearby constellations, Cygnus the Swan and Aquila the eagle, driving them away from Lake Stymphalus, where they had picked up the unfortunate habit of swooping down and attacking any unsuspecting people who wandered by.
Wed Jul 15, 2026 NEUTRON STARS
Today’s Skywatch was written by Hallstrom planetarium assistant Vela De la Mare. After a star goes supernova, the core begins to collapse, and if it has just the right amount of mass, conditions become so dense that individual protons and electrons combine into neutrons. All this matter is squeezed down into a ball only a handful of miles across, creating the densest known object in our universe – a neutron star. They’re far too small to be seen with the naked eye, but are scattered throughout our sky. One of them is well-placed in the east this week, between the three stars of the Summer Triangle. Look for the bright star Vega, then draw a line down to Deneb toward the Horizon, and finally to Altair further south. Between Deneb and Altair lies the Dumbbell Nebula, a beautiful swirling cloud of gas, which is right next door to PSRB 1937+21 – a less-than-poetically named neutron star.
Thu Jul 16, 2026 ROBERT HOOKE
Robert Hooke, born on July 18, 1635, is best known for his pioneering work in analyzing insects, plants, all manner of things in nature, using a microscope. He made a lot of sketches, and first described the cell-like structure of living organisms. He was also a mortal enemy of Isaac Newton. In fiction, Sherlock Holmes had to combat Professor Moriarty; Superman had to fight Lex Luthor; and Batman had to deal with the Joker. For Isaac Newton, it was this guy – Robert Hooke. Newton had built a small reflecting telescope, the first of its kind, and he was persuaded to share his experiments on how the eye sees light. Hooke, who had done some work in this area, strongly criticized Newton, and Newton didn’t like it. Hooke also claimed to have worked out the laws of gravity long before Newton’s published work, Principia. Thus began a life-long battle between the two.
Fri Jul 17, 2026 NAME THAT CONSTELLATION – JULY
Can you identify the twelfth largest constellation? It is bordered on the north by Ursa Major and Leo Minor; on the south by Hydra, Sextans, Crater the Cup and Virgo; on the west by Cancer the Crab; and on the east by Virgo again and Coma Berenices. Its brightest star is Regulus, called the King Star. This part of space is also the source of a meteor shower which peaks in mid-November. Many beautiful galaxies are found within its borders, one of which is a favorite of mine – the hamburger galaxy. In myth, the Babylonian hero Gilgamesh fought it, and so did Hercules, who defeated it after a month-long battle. And it’s also associated with the prophet Daniel. This evening the waxing crescent moon and the planet Venus can be found below it. Can you name this constellation, the fifth sign of the zodiac? The answer is Leo the Lion.
