- Forecast for June -

Moon

                                                 

Full                                4^th      21:38  to  04:34                

Last Quarter                  11^th    00:49  to  13:11     
New                               19^th    04:34  to  21:21
First Quarter                 27^th    14:02  to  00:18

          It's now high summer, or the rainy season, depending on the day, and at night we have twilight instead of night, alleviated a bit by the possible sighting of Noctilucent clouds in the north, not really astronomical but beautiful nonetheless. And finally we are able to see towards the centre of the galaxy, where many of Messier's items reside, though very low in the south.

          On the 4^th of June there will be Partial Lunar Eclipse at Noon. It’ll be difficult to make out as the Earth’s shadow only covers about 1/10^th of the Moon’s disc, and that’s in broad daylight.

          On the 6th we have a Transit of Venus, unfortunately at dawn as the Sun rises, and we only get the last few minutes of it. But it is the last till 11th of December 2117, and that will also be before dawn.

Planets

Jupiter will rise in the early hours and though too close to the Sun till the 15^th, it will be an hour ahead of the Sun then and available. Bright, but the twilight may be brighter. On the 17^th, a very thin crescent Moon will be within 2° of it, with Venus close by too. On the 30^th, it will be 34 arcsec and mag –2.1 and rise almost 2 hours before the Sun.

Mars will be available from dusk till 2am on the 1^st, but at 8 arcsec it’s be difficult to make out detail on the disc. A yellow filter will help - a little. Still bright at mag 0.5. On the 30^th it’ll be 7 arcsec and down to mag 0.9. It’ll be there from dusk till 12:15am.

On the 1^st of June, Uranus will rise in the east two hours before the Sun but will be difficult in the bright dawn. By month’s end it’ll rise at 2:30am, so will be easier, and quite good despite the lightness of the June night. It should be visible as a small blue 3 arcsec disc of mag 5.8.

Neptune is ahead of Uranus and will rise on the 1^st at 2am. Smaller than Uranus it will be difficult, taking into account the June night sky and the closeness to the horizon. On the 30^th it’ll rise at midnight, giving us that much more time to find a tiny 2 arcsec blue dot of mag 7.9.

On the 1^st, Mercury will be within 12 arcmin of Venus as they sink into the west 10 mins after the Sun, far too close to observe, so don’t. However, it will be racing backwards away from the Sun, and from the 5^th, when it’ll be 5 arcsec and mag –1.3 to the end of the month, when it’ll be 8 arcsec and mag 0.5, it should be reasonably easily seen, with a good low horizon to the north west. It’s best for ease of observing should be about the 24^th. As the month progresses you should also be able to detect a change in its phase from 90% on the 5^th to 41% on the 30^th.

Venus will be too close to the Sun for the first few nights of the month, but by the 15^th, will be coming into contention, with great care as it’s only 40 mins ahead of the Sun to rise. It is very interesting though, as on that date it should be a big 55 arcsec and very bright mag –4.1. The phase will be a crescent 3%! On the 18^th, it’ll be within 2° of a very thin crescent Moon, with Jupiter 8° away. By the 22^nd, it will have shrunk to 51 arcsec and mag –4.3. The crescent will have fattened to 8%, and it will be 50 mins ahead of the Sun. Still very close. By the end of the month it’ll rise 90 mins before the Sun at 45 arcsec and mag –4.4. The phase will be 16%. It’ll also be closer to Jupiter. All this entertainment will require you to be up and ready before dawn, about 4am!

Saturn, less demanding, will be available on the 1^st, from dusk, when it’ll be due south, to about 3am, when it sets in a lightening dawn. It will be 18 arcsec and mag 0.5. The rings will be good and wide, though it’ll not get much higher in the sky than about 30°. Not a good apparition, but all will be forgiven on sight of the rings.

Meteor Showers.

Several this month but only the Arietids have more than 7 ZHR, but the Sun is in Aries so this will not be a good shower to watch!

Comets.

Garradd is still there, having crossed into Leo and moving away from us. By the end of the month it’ll be about mag 11, pretty much only photographic as it's spread nature will make it seem much less than the mag11 quoted. We keep hoping for a visually bright comet without success. Still none. But if you hear of one give me a call and I’ll get and circulate the ephererides.

As usual, if you'd like a star chart of some part of the sky for some date, get in touch with the observatory email address.

For details of satellites and Iridium flares see http://www.heavens-above.com