Watch star turns in our skies tonight

GO OUT early this evening and look to the west for the young crescent moon. Nearby, forming a triangle, are the two brightest bodies in our skies – Venus (the evening star) and Jupiter, above.

If you keep an eye on Jupiter and Venus, you’ll notice them moving past each other at the end of the month. When the moon returns to this part of the sky on July 18, there will be a similar triangle for mation but with Venus above Jupiter.

Once you’ve admired that, turn around and look for Scorpio rising in the east. The bright star in the head of the scorpion is Saturn, and at its heart is Antares, the slightly orange star below.

Gauteng residents can head for Kloofendal Nature Reserve this evening to enjoy the planets with astronomers from the West Rand Astronomy Club, their telescopes, and boerewors rolls – entrance is R50 for adults, R30 for under-12s – in aid of Friends of Kloofendal.

Joburgers interested in DIY astronomy should diarise Saturday, July 25, the annual Scopex astronomy fair, where local amateurs show off their homemade telescopes, amid astronomy talks and workshops.

If you prefer to do your exploration of the universe indoors, have a look at the University of Johannesburg Winter School schedule at winterschool.uj. mobi. High school pupils and their families will hear about the physics of lightning and meet a South African who has volunteered to travel to Mars.

If watching online, there’s the excitement of the Philae lander, which touched down on Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November and accidentally parked in the shade, where its solar-powered batteries lasted for only 2.5 days. The comet is now closer to the sun and Philae warmed up and sent a message home last weekend.

Scientists are hoping it will maintain contact until the comet passes close to the sun in August.

More space excitement can be found with the New Horizons mission, which after a 10-year journey is set to be the first spacecraft to fly past Pluto on July 14.

At 6.39pm tomorrow evening it is the winter solstice, when our southern part of the planet is in the worst position for getting heat from the sun.