June, 2007 - The Sky

Written on June 10, 2007 by Bernadette

Every month I will try to put a post up as a guide to what you can see in the night sky for the current month - but if anyone else cares to add to this post, or take on the job of being the ”sky poster” that would be great.

The month of June 2007
Venus is the “evening star,” and she radiates the western sky at dusk. Saturn can be seen as the brightest “star” to Venus’ upper left; watch the two planets draw together all month, on their way to a close conjunction on July 1. Meanwhile, bright Jupiter is getting higher in the southeast to south as the weeks go by. To its right, look for Antares, the red star which is one of the Royal Stars of Persia and Watcher of the West and you may also be able to see the stars that form the head of Scorpios.

1 The Moon rises in the southeast around 10 p.m. For the hour before then, you can see Jupiter shining above the spot where the Moon will rise. Antares glows red to Jupiter’s right.

2 Mercury is at greatest elongation, 23 degrees east of the Sun in evening twilight. It’s the point of light far to the lower right of brilliant Venus, above the west-northwest horizon. Venus is in line with Castor and Pollux, the Twins of Gemini which are to Venus’ right.

5 Jupiter is at opposition, opposite the Sun in our sky. This means it rises in the east around sunset, shines highest in the south (north if you are in the southern hemisphere) in the middle of the night, and sets in the west around sunrise. It outshines everything in the night sky except the Moon and Venus.

8 Venus is at greatest elongation, 45 degrees east of the Sun, radiating the western sky at dusk. To its upper left are Saturn and, farther on, Regulus, another Royal Star of Persia and Watcher of the North. To Venus’ lower right are Pollux and Castor. Mercury is far below them in early twilight.

10 During early dawn, look for Mars (Nergal, now returning from the underworld and climbing the seven stairways to the sky) below the waning crescent Moon in the east. 

16 The crescent Moon hangs in the west-northwest at dusk. Pollux is above it, and Castor is to the right of Pollux. Venus still radiates the sky and  Saturn and, farther on, Regulus, are to Venus’ upper left.

17 The Moon, Venus, Saturn, and Regulus are lined up in the west this evening, in that order from lower right to upper left. – Line them up  and you will see the ecliptic, traced out in the sky.

18 The lineup in the west has shrunk. The order now, from lower right to upper left, is Venus, Moon and Saturn (closely bunched), with Regulus still off to their upper left.

19 Saturn shines between the Moon and bright Venus. Regulus is very close to the Moon. In fact, the Moon occults (covers) Regulus for a time as seen from most of North America.

20 Another evening, another western lineup. This time it’s Venus, Saturn, Regulus, and the Moon (lower right to upper left).

21 The summer solstice occurs when the Sun is farthest north for the year and begins its six-month return southward. Summer begins in the northern hemisphere. The summer solstice is also the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere and for the southern hemisphere it is the longest night. 

 27 Bright Jupiter and the stars of Scorpius form a backdrop for the Moon tonight. Look in particular for fire-colored Antares just to the Moon’s left.

30 The Full Moon tonight.

Posted in Sky Events