June was a really good month for astronomy and space sciences at Bishop Museum.

On June 5 we had 2,100 people visit us for our Transit of Venus festival. On June 18, NASA announced that Bishop Museum was selected to receive an $800,000 award under NASA’s Competitive Program for Science Museums and Planetariums initiative.

This three-year project, called Celestial Islands, will allow us to create a team of six classroom teachers who will work with the museum to create programs and exhibits focused on NASA-related science. The grant’s products include a program on earth sciences that will incorporate both Science on a Sphere and our new digital planetarium. NOAA’s Science on a Sphere, a 6-foot globe that can show vivid images of the earth and other planets, was installed in the planetarium lobby in 2006 under a NOAA environmental literacy grant.

The state of Hawaii recently provided funding to upgrade the Watumull planetarium to a full-dome digital theater. NASA funding now allows us to build on NOAA and the state’s support in creating a new program that will combine both these educational tools, SOS and the digital planetarium, into a single impactful educational experience. The NASA award will also allow us to take that program "on the road." By using a new portable digital planetarium and Magic Planet, a traveling version of SOS, we’ll take this compact version of the new program throughout the Hawaiian islands. Celestial Islands also includes classroom curricula, a new exhibit for the planetarium lobby on earth and space science, community science events and teacher workshops.

Planets in July

Jupiter and Venus, the brightest dots in the sky, make a spectacular sight in the early hours of the morning throughout next month.

In early July, look east about 4:30 a.m. and you’ll see two very bright dots of light. Jupiter, the higher of the two, shines at minus 2 magnitude, brighter than any star. Just below Jupiter is the only dot that outshines it, the planet Venus. At minus 4.4 magnitude, Venus is more than six times brighter than Jupiter. Venus is about 4 degrees below Jupiter, or the width of two fingers held at arm’s length. The tiny cluster of the Pleiades shines above the gathered planets. At 4:30 a.m. Venus is about 8 degrees above the horizon, or a little less than the width of your hand held at arm’s length. In early July, Jupiter rises at 3:30 a.m. and Venus at 3:50 a.m.

By mid-July, at 4:30 a.m. look for Jupiter and Venus in the east; by now, Venus is six degrees (three fingers) below Jupiter. On July 15 only, look for the late crescent moon next to Venus. In mid-July, Jupiter comes up at 2:40 a.m. and Venus rises at 3:15 a.m.

At the end of July, look east at 4:30 a.m. and Venus will be more than 12 degrees below Jupiter, or well more than the width of your entire hand at arm’s length. At the end of July, you can clearly see the stars of Orion to the right of Venus. Jupiter rises at 1:50 a.m. at the end of July, and Venus at 3 a.m.

At the start of July, Mars is halfway up in the west at dusk and sets by 11:30 p.m. At the end of the month, Mars is one-third of the way up in the sky at dusk and sets by 10:30 p.m. The planet shines around first magnitude, only as bright as a bright star. Look for the waxing crescent moon below Mars on July 23 and 24.

At dusk in early July, Saturn is about two-thirds of the way up in the western sky and sets just after midnight. By the end of the month, Saturn is halfway up in the west at dusk and sets by 11:15 p.m. Throughout the month Saturn appears close to the bright bluish star Spica in Virgo, a few degrees to the lower left of Saturn.

Saturn, at 0.7 magnitude, is just a little brighter than Spica at 0.96 magnitude. Saturn has a slight yellow tint and Spica a slight blue tint. For the last week of July, these two bright dots will make a tight triangle with Mars. The red planet will be about 8 degrees (four fingers) below Spica and Saturn. On July 24, look for the waxing crescent just below this Spica-Saturn-Mars formation.

Look for Mercury very low in the west at dusk for the first week of July, around 8 p.m. It will be about 8 degrees (four fingers) above the horizon at dusk, and will set by 8:45 p.m. It starts the month at 0.6 magnitude and fades to 1.25 by June 8.

Other Sky Events in July

» Earth at aphelion on July 4, at 6 p.m.: Each year, the earth is at its most distant point from the sun in early July, deep in the heart of summer for the northern hemisphere.

» Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower: The peak will be the nights of July 28-29 and 29-30. Active period: July 18-Aug. 18, up to 20 meteors an hour. The moon is waxing gibbous and sets around 2:30 a.m. early on July 29 and 3:40 a.m. early on July 30. This one should be OK from the Hawaiian islands, but the view will be better from the southern hemisphere.

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Mike Shanahan is director of Education, Exhibits and Planetarium. For more information, go to www.bishopmuseum.org/planetarium/planetarium.html