Monday 5th to Sunday 11th July 2021
On Friday 9th July there is a chance to see two of Jupiter's Galilean moons, Io and Europa, very close together. You'll need to be staying up until about 2.45am and aiming your telescope towards the east south east.
Io is slightly larger than our own Moon and has over 400 volcanoes, making it the most geologically active object in the Solar System. The activity is caused by friction as the poor little moon is pulled between the enormous mass of Jupiter and the other three Galilean moons.
Europa is smaller and a much calmer place to live. Alien-hunters get excited about this moon because it has water ice on the surface and an atmosphere of oxygen, so could possibly support some basic life forms.
While you are in planet-hunting mode, slightly to the right of Jupiter, due south, will be Saturn with its spectacular rings.
If you are still awake, you could turn your telescope to the east north east and take a look at the Pleiades open cluster of stars. The Pleiades was observed by Charles Messier, so it appears in his catalogue of deep sky objects as M45.
It is also known as "The Seven Sisters", the name originating from the seven brightest stars in the cluster - a small telescope will make it easy to identify the individual stars.
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
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