Astronomy News

Friday, June 1
Mercury is at greatest elongation, 23° east of
the Sun in evening twilight as shown here.

Saturday, June 2
This evening, Venus is just about perfectly lined
up with Pollux and Castor to its right.

Sunday, June 3
Venus and Jupiter are certainly the brightest planets
- but do you know the brightest stars after dark at this
time of year? They're Vega in the eastern sky, Arcturus
nearly overhead toward the south, and Capella sinking very
low in the northwest, far right of dimmer Mercury. All
are magnitude 0. (Descriptions are for skywatchers at north
temperate latitudes.)

Monday, June 4
Once you recognize Vega and Arcturus, you can look for
the dim Keystone of Hercules a third of the way from Vega
to Arcturus, and mostly-dim Corona Borealis, the Northern
Crown, two thirds of the way along.

Tuesday, June 5
Jupiter is at opposition, opposite the Sun in our sky. So
it rises at sunset, is highest in the middle of the night,
and sets at sunrise. This is also just about when Jupiter
is closest to Earth.

Mars is at perihelion: closest to the Sun in its orbit.

Wednesday, June 6
The asteroid 4 Vesta is still shining at a remarkably bright
magnitude 5.5, not far from Jupiter. It should be distinctly
visible to the unaided eye in a dark sky now that the bright
Moon is gone from the evening.

Thursday, June 7

Jupiter's Red Spot should transit at around 11:58 p.m. EDT.

Friday, June 8

Last-quarter Moon (exact at 7:43 a.m. EDT).

Venus is at greatest elongation, 45° east of the Sun in the twilight sky.

Early Saturday morning for western North America, two of
Jupiter's moons (Io and Ganymede) cast their tiny shadows
on the planet's face at once: from 2:17 to 3:03 a.m. Pacific
Daylight Time. This will be an interesting time to observe
Jupiter with a telescope.

Saturday, June 9

Jupiter's Red Spot should transit at around 1:36 a.m. Sunday morning
EDT; 10:36 p.m. Saturday evening PDT.

This Week's Planet Roundup

Mercury (in the feet of Gemini) remains relatively high in
evening twilight, but it's fading - from magnitude +0.4 on
June 1st to +1.2 on June 9th. Look for it far to the lower
right of Venus, as shown at the top of this page.

Venus (magnitude -4.4, crossing from Gemini into Cancer) is
the brilliant "Evening Star" in the west during and after
twilight. After standing high in twilight all spring, Venus
is getting a little lower again. Pollux and Castor, much fainter,
are lined up to its right early in the week. They slide away
to the lower right thereafter. A telescope shows that Venus
is now half-lit.

Mars (magnitude +0.8, in Pisces) is gradually getting
higher in the east before and during dawn. It's the
orange-yellow dot below the Great Square of Pegasus.

Jupiter (magnitude -2.6, in southern Ophiuchus) is at
opposition on June 5th. It glares low in the
east-southeast at dusk and dominates the south by
1 a.m. daylight saving time. Antares, less bright,
sparkles 7° to its right in early evening, and to
its lower right later.

Saturn (magnitude +0.5, in Leo) shines in the west
during evening, upper left of dazzling Venus (by 23°
to 16° this week). Watch these two closing in on each
other, heading for a close conjunction at the end of June.

Uranus (magnitude 6, in Aquarius) and Neptune (magnitude 8,
in Capricornus) are well up in the east-southeast before
the first light of dawn.

Pluto (magnitude 14, in northwestern Sagittarius) is not far
from Jupiter in the south late at night. Finder charts for
Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are in the July


--
There are those who believe that life here, began out there, far across the
universe, with tribes of humans, who may have been the forefathers of the
Egyptians, or the Toltecs, or the Mayans. Some believe that they may yet be
brothers of man, who even now fight to survive, somewhere beyond the
heavens.


The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Sidewalk Astronomy
www.sidewalkastronomy.info
The Church of Eternity
http://home.inreach.com/starlord/church/Eternity.html
AD World
http://www.adworld.netfirms.com/