22
23
daylight. Simply find the moon and then look towards where Venus was, and you will see as the textbooks state, that Venus is visble in a blue sky, if you know where
to look! As the short night begins to fall at 22h on the 7th, Mars and the gibbous waxing moon are in conjunction 25° in altitude in the SW sky. At this time Mars
will be seen just less than 3° above the moon. During June Mars is visible from sunset until 02h in the morning when it sets. However by the end of the month,
the planet is setting a few minutes before astronomical midnight. (01h BST). Mars is now fading as earth leaves it behind, and appears to move slowly eastwards
through midsummer in Virgo as it approaches the constellation’s brightest star Spica for the second time this year. On the last day of the month, Spica is some 5°
to the left of the brighter planet Mars, which by the month’s end, the latter’s magnitude is slightly less than Arcturus, (alpha Boötis), which lies 30° above the pair
Jupiter continues to be visible in the evening sky, although the days of the evening apparition of this giant planet are numbered. Conjunction with the sun takes
place next month. Look for the planet in the NW sky at around 21h. Jupiter is moving slowly eastwards in Gemini and by the end of the month is in line with the
constellation’s two chief stars Castor and Pollux, which seem to point towards Jupiter in the evening twilight.
Saturn continues to dominate Libra, the zodiacal constellation in which it lies, and may be seen crossing the meridian in the south shortly after sunset at an altitude of some 20° in that direction. If you look another 20° to its lower left, you may see the giant red star Antares twinkling low in the SE, in the neighbouring
constellation of Scorpius, the same angular distance to the right of Saturn is Spica, and a further 10° on in the same direction is Mars.
(20° in the sky is a little over the distance of a span with the hand held out at arm’s length.)
Just after sunset on the 10th, the gibbous waxing moon is close to Saturn, the angular distance being some 2° at that time, with Saturn above the moon in the sky.
Both Uranus in Pisces, and Neptune in Aquarius are difficult to observe because of twilight this month, and also because there are no bright stars in their vicinities to help you locate these remote worlds.
During this month the International Space Station is passing through a period of full illumination. This offers multiple opportunities for viewing the ISS for observers in the UK. Constellations visible in the south around midnight, mid-month, are as follows: Ophiuchus, Serpens Cauda, Hercules, and the head of Draco the
dragon, which is near the zenith.
All times are GMT
1° is one finger width at arm’s length.
WORDS: JOHN HARPER (FRAS) FOUNDER SCARBOROUGH & RYDALE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Astro Nerds June 2014
Astro Nerds June 2014