Buresh

Buresh Blog: Briefly drier... sea butterflies

July 10, 2018 — Finally a little bit of a dry period this week.  The multiple days in a row without measurable rain will be the longest such stretch since the first week of June & - for some areas - the longest since the first two weeks of May!

Interesting marine life sighted at area beaches recently.  Stephanie Zangla had an enquiring mind as to what the creatures were - see the photos below....

These are "sea butterflies" - swimming snails.  The shells have a tendency to stick on/in swimsuits & can be rather uncomfortable with a slight prickly feeling.  Harmless but bothersome at the same time.

The night skies ahead from "Sky and Telescope":

July 11 (early evening): Mercury is at maximum angular separation from the Sun (26°) and easy to see to lower-right of Venus near western horizon for several days.

July 15 (early evening):

Very thin waxing crescent Moon and Venus create a dazzling duo, less than 2° apart for the East Coast but only about ½° (1 Moon diameter) for the West Coast.

July 20 (night): Waxing gibbous Moon, the giant planet Jupiter, and the medium-bright star Zubenelgenubi form a compact triangle.

July 24 (night): Waxing gibbous Moon visits Saturn in Sagittarius, where the ringed planet has been most of this year.

July 26–27 (all night): Mars arrives at opposition, sitting opposite the Sun in the sky. Look toward east after 9 or 10 p.m.

July 26–27 (night): Total eclipse of the Moon. Visible from Europe, Africa, and Asia but not from North America.

July 30–31 (all night): Mars is closer to Earth than it has since 2003. Look toward east after 9 or 10 p.m.

August (evening, all month): Four bright planets are in view at once. West to east: Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars

Moon Phases

Last Quarter: July 6, 3:51 a.m. EDT

New Moon: July 13, 10:48 p.m. EDT

First Quarter: July 19, 3:52 p.m. EDT

Full Moon: July 27,4:20 p.m. EDT (Buck Moon; total lunar eclipse visible in Eastern Hemisphere)