CLOUDCAM TIME LAPSE SUNSET TO SUNRISE JULY 5-6, 2012 July 5 At a distance of just 11 light-years, 61 Cygni is one of our closest stellar neighbors. And it consists of two stars, not one. Even so, it is just barely visible to the unaided eye — a faint dot not far from the graceful outline of Cygnus, the swan. July 6 The planet Venus, the “morning star, is fairly low in the east at first light. The slightly fainter planet Jupiter is above it. The true star Aldebaran, the orange “eye” of Taurus, the bull, is a bit below Venus. It doesn’t look as impressive as the two planets, but that’s only because of its great distance. Mercury hangs above the western horizon after the Sun sets in early July, and Mars, Saturn, and Virgo’s brightest star, Spica, pop into view. Mercury hangs above the western horizon after the Sun sets in early July. As the innermost planet sinks and the sky darkens, Mars, Saturn, and Virgo’s brightest star, Spica, pop into view. A waxing crescent Moon joins this trio of bright objects a week before the month ends. The morning sky displays a pair of planets that appears even more spectacular. Both Venus and Jupiter shine brilliantly before dawn near the impressive Pleiades and Hyades star clusters. ‘Impossible’ Binary Stars Discovered A team of astronomers have used the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) on Hawaii to discover four pairs of stars that orbit each other in less than 4 hours. Until now it was thought that such close-in binary stars could …