Home Back to June Sky Download a Sky Map for this month
Full Moon:
June 3
New Moon:
June 17
STAR GAZE (June 18):
Sun: Sets at 8:51pm, astronomical twilight ends at 10:39pm
and begins at 4:31am the next morning. The Sun rises the next morning at 6:17am.
Between astronomical twilights, we get about 5.9 hours of darkness.
Moon: (illuminated 1%) The Moon sets at 9:56pm.
Jupiter & it's moons: Jupiter is 49 degrees above
the horizon at sunset. Jupiter culminates (is highest in the sky) at 6:35pm,
and sets at 01:04am. The Great Red Spot will not be visible before Jupiter sets,
and no Jovian moon events occur tonight.
Saturn: Saturn is only 11 degrees above the western
horizon at sunset, and so finally appears too close to the sun for us to observe
clearly.
Asteroids: Ceres is still in Cancer this
month, but only 37 degrees above the western horizon at sunset on the night
of the gaze, at magnitude 8.8.
SOLAR SYSTEM:
Mercury: At superior conjunction ("behind the sun")
on June 18. Visible low in the WNW near the end of the month.
| Venus: Venus transits the Sun for the first time in 122 years on June 8. On this morning the Sun rises in the ENE at 6:16am with Venus already in transit. The end of the transit begins when the edge of Venus touches the Sun's limb at 7:06:14am when the sun is only 9 degrees above the horizon. The transit ends at 7:26:16am when the sun is 13 degrees above the horizon. Do not look at the sun with out proper filtration! Indirect viewing, by projecting the image through the eye piece onto a piece of paper or white cardboard, is the safest way to view the Sun. You can even photograph this projected image, and record Venus in transit, if the Earth's atmosphere allows. | |
Comet NEAT C/2001 Q4 was nearest to Earth on May 6, & was brightest then at about magnitude 3.0. During June it is between the legs of Ursa Major, headed towards the bowl of the Big Dipper. It will fade from about magnitude 5 to 7 during June. See this Sky & Telescope article.
Comet LINEAR C/2002 T7 will poke it's head above the SWS horizon in late May and in June. It will fade from about magnitude 5 to 9 during June. See Sky and Telescope article.
DEEP SKY OBJECTS (DSO's)
(Not the biggest or brightest, but interesting):
1. 3C273: The most distant object visible thru many amateur
scopes: a quasar "near" to earth, and appears brighter than all others.
It is about 2.5 billion light years away and has the brightness of 6,000,000,000,000
suns. Appears stellar thru an amateur scope. As you sit at the scope contemplate
that the photons striking your retina and stimulating the electric charge to
your brain have been traveling thru space for billions of years. Only
the "lucky" photons have not struck a particle of dust or been absorbed
by a molecule of hydrogen. Burnham's Celestial Atlas has a finder chart on page
2101. Magnitude 12.8. Catch it early in the night while it's still high. (Location:
12hr 29m 06.8s RA +02deg 03' 07" Dec, in Virgo)
2. Zeta Ursae Majoris (Double stars): The two stars in the crook of the Big Dipper's handle are Mizar & Alcor. They can be separated without using optical aid. These two stars share a common path thru space, but may not be in orbit around each other. Put a telescope to the brighter of the two, Mizar, and it is revealed to be a true double star: 14" separation; Magnitudes 2.3 & 4.0. The "secondary" star takes about 1,000 years to complete it's orbit around the "primary". Their distance from Earth is 70 light years & true separation is 200 a.u. (5x that of our sun and Pluto). (Location: 13h 23.9m R.A. 54 deg 56' Dec)
HIGHLIGHTS:
June 20: Summer solstice: the longest day of the year,
and, to our consternation, the shortest night.
CLUB STARGAZE:
You can check the AstroAsheville
Yahoo group (or call Tim @ 251-0040 or John @ 251-1933 x17 (before 5:00)
or 667-9268 (after 5:00)) for a go/no-go decision and to verify location.
CLUB MEETING:
Indoor club meetings are usually the first Thursday of every
month, at 6 p.m. in the Sim’s
Group offices (230 Short Coxe Ave., Asheville, NC.)
Happy Starwatching! Dress Warm!
Blue Ridge Parkway Information
Line is 828-298-0398
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(Much of the above info is derived from Sky & Telescope magazine, Ottewell's
Astronomical Calendar, The Night Sky Observer's Guide, Burnam's Celestial Handbook,
Megastar 5.0, Planets202, the ol' Miller Planesphere, and a little (very little)
common sense.)
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