June 2009
Skywatchers’ Guide for June 2009
PLEASE NOTE: The Flandrau Observatory remains open during the building closure of our Planetarium and Science Center; Portable telescopes and astronomers are available for star gazing programs (‘star parties’) off-site, and portable planetarium programs are available as well for educational groups, private parties and groups of all kinds.
PLANETS
 This sky chart shows Saturn, the Moon and Regulus in the western evening sky on June 26/27 at around 8:30 p.m. MST from the Desert Southwest.  This sky chart shows Jupiter and the Moon in the southern morning sky on June 13 at around 4:15 a.m. MST from the Desert Southwest.  This sky chart shows Venus, Mars, Mercury and the Moon in the eastern morning sky on June 18-20 at around 4:15 a.m. MST the Desert Southwest. |
HIGHLIGHTS: Saturn, in the eastern evening sky, is conveniently high overhead in the sky for evening telescopic viewing. This is the last best chance for quality viewing of its narrow rings this year. Four naked eye planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter, are widely spaced in the east to southern area of the morning twilight sky. The Moon beautifully groups with Mars and Venus in the dawn twilight on June 19, and the summer solstice is on June 20 for western North America.
June 2009 offers best, last chance quality telescope views of Saturn and its ring system this year: The ringed planet is highest overhead in evening twilight during the first half of this month. By the second half of June Saturn is losing altitude in evening twilight. Saturn doesn’t set until after midnight during the first half of June, but sets by 11:20 p.m. near the end of June. Although the ringed planet is somewhat dimmer this year (compared to previous years) because its rings are more edge-on, it is found conveniently high overhead in the constellation Leo the Lion during the evening hours (again, well placed for evening telescopic viewing). Saturn fades slightly during June to a 1st magnitude and 17 arc second wide star-like object.
Saturn’s rings continue to narrow very slowly as we view them more edge-on. Even so the rings are open enough to discern easily in a good quality telescope. The ringed world continues eastward or ‘direct’ motion, drifting farther but very slowly each night from Leo’s brightest star Regulus. Also, the 6 day old waxing crescent Moon is nearest Saturn in our sky this month on Saturday evening June 27.
Bright Jupiter continues to gains altitude and rise earlier each night this June in the southeastern sky. Jupiter rises by midnight in early June, by 11:15 p.m in mid-June and around 10:25 p.m. in late June. Jupiter is high enough for quality telescopic viewing, starting 2.5 hours after these rise times. The best time to view Jupiter (when it is highest and when the atmosphere is most stable) is in the pre-dawn twilight. All June long the giant planet is easily seen over one hour before sunrise, highest above the southern horizon. Also all June long Jupiter is in the same low power telescope field with faint, bluish Neptune (the two are only 48 arc minutes apart). Telescopes at low power with a one degree field (or more) can easily show both planets in a single field of view. Jupiter and Neptune are located in the constellation of Capricornus, the Sea Goat. Far from both Jupiter and Neptune, bluish-green Uranus is some 30 degrees east of both in Pisces, the Fish. Jupiter is the brightest star like object that is high in the southern sky during morning twilight. The waning gibbous Moon will lie closest to Jupiter in our sky in the pre-dawn hours and dawn twilight of Saturday morning, June 13.
The best views of any planet should be when it is highest in the sky, but viewing is dependent on atmospheric stability and conditions, and of course, the quality and size of the telescope used. Large, high quality amateur telescopes in good “seeing” (stable atmospheric conditions) will best reveal any features on a planet’s disk.
The brilliant planet Venus is grouped with faint Mars in the dawn twilight nearly all month long above the eastern dawn horizon. Venus and Mars start the month five degrees apart and are closest in our sky from June 21-23, when only 2 degrees apart. Brilliant white Venus starts the month about 18 degrees above the eastern horizon in the bright morning twilight, 45 minutes before sunrise. It slowly gains altitude, rising higher, earlier during the entire month to reach 22 degrees in altitude at that time by June 30. As it does so its phase (about half-illuminated) thickens and shrinks to a gibbous phase, as Venus continues to move farther away from Earth. The razor thin 26-day-old waning crescent Moon groups beautifully close to Mars and Venus in our sky in the dawn twilight of Friday morning, June 19. Mars is still a long ways off from Earth (hence its faintness compared to Venus) and so is currently an unremarkable object in a telescope.
Elusive Mercury is visible in a morning apparition this month, but it’s low, just 4-6 degrees above the east-northeastern horizon, starting 50 minutes before sunrise from June 11-30. It is best visible when it’s brighter and highest June 16-26 above a clear east-northeastern horizon, starting 50 minutes before sunrise. From June 19-22 Mercury passes near the Hyades star cluster in Taurus, the Bull, while the Moon is nearest Mercury on the morning of June 21. On the previous morning of June 20 the Moon passes near the Seven Sisters or Pleiades star cluster above Mercury. Viewing all these objects in wide-field binoculars is highly recommended and greatly enhances the view. Either way you may need binoculars to spot faint Mercury in a clear unobstructed horizon, especially from June 11-16 when it is faintest.
Visitors to Flandrau’s 16-inch telescope should note of the planets, Saturn visible in the telescope during public hours, and other celestial objects will be shown in the telescope, weather permitting. Flandrau’s main exhibit hall and planetarium is now closed to the public and to school groups due to state budget cuts (the Mineral Museum is open by appointment only) but our Observatory remains open for viewing during public hours from 7-10 p.m., weather permitting, Wednesday through Saturday nights (excluding select holidays).
Finally, remember that in spotting planets there is a general rule: ’stars twinkle, planets don’t’. This is because stars are point sources of light; therefore starlight is easily disturbed and shifted by air currents in the Earth’s atmosphere. However when looking at Mercury or even Mars this month, note that they appear to twinkle somewhat; however, this twinkling is of a slower nature than that of the bright stars.
JUNE EVENING STARS
 The "pointer stars" of the Big Dipper, Dubhe and Merak, point down to the North Star, ‘Polaris’. This sky chart shows the Desert Southwest sky in early June at 10:30 p.m. and in mid June at 9:30 p.m.  "Arc to Arcturus": This sky chart shows the western sky at 10:30 p.m. in early June, at 9:30 p.m. in mid-June and at 8:30 p.m. in late June. No planets are shown.  The bright stars Antares and Vega provide a color contrast in the bright summer Milky Way. This sky chart shows the sky in early June at 11PM, in middle June at 10PM and late June at 9PM, and is most useful for the southern United States and northern Mexico. |
The Big Dipper is easy to find in June, high in the northern evening sky. Look for the Big Dipper high in the north 1 hour after sunset. Take the two end stars off of the bowl (the Pointer stars) and point down to Polaris, the North Star. Polaris is a star of ordinary brightness, and marks the end of the handle of the Little Dipper. Polaris can also be found about 30 degrees (or 3 fists) above the northern horizon. Polaris stays put in the sky; to the eye it doesn’t appear to move. This is because Earth’s axis is pointed toward Polaris in space.
Bright stars of the June evening sky (1 hour after sunset) include ruddy Antares in the southeast, the bright yellow star Arcturus high overhead, and the blue star Spica, high in the south. Locate the bright yellow star Arcturus and the blue star Spica by recalling, “Follow the arc (of Big Dipper’s handle) to Arcturus and drive a spike to Spica”, or simply “Arc to Arcturus and spike to Spica”. Although Spica is said to mark the spike or ear of wheat in the hand of Virgo, it really looks like the bottom of a group of stars in Virgo that make up a diamond or kite shape.
Rising above the northeastern horizon in early June one hour after sunset is bright Vega, the brightest star of the summer sky. Blue-white Vega in the northeast contrasts sharply with Antares, the baleful red supergiant star of summer, now rising in the southeast in early June evenings. By late June its orange-red twinkling enlivens the southern sky, giving reason to its name “the rival of Mars”. From the southern United States Antares does not get very high, only about 30 degrees (or three fists held at arm’s length) above the southern horizon, because of its position in the southern sky. However, from Australia Antares can be seen overhead in June and July. Antares is the brightest part of a most impressive scroll of stars, sort of like a long letter “S” fallen halfway forward. In this case the “S” stands for the constellation it is part of: Scorpius.
The Milky Way Prominent in the Late Night Hours!
The Milky Way, the galaxy of stars, gas and dust our solar system resides in, is prominent all summer long, and rises in the early June sky after 11 p.m., but earlier, by 9 p.m. in late June. To see it, you’ll need to get away from city lights to a dark location, and look on a night when there’s not much interference from the moon. The Milky Way will appear as a “cloudy” band clear across the sky. High power binoculars and telescopes reveal the Milky Way to be clouds of stars, millions of them, with attendant star clusters and gas clouds making up some of the “fuzzier” spots you’ll see.
THE SUMMER SOLSTICE IS ON JUNE 20
The Sun continues to move higher in our early June sky, hence the warmer temperatures. On the date of the summer solstice the Sun will be highest this year in the northern hemisphere sky at local noon and will set furthest in the northwest. This year the northern hemisphere summer solstice occurs on Saturday June 20 at 10:45 p.m. MST for western North America. For the East Coast of the USA the solstice occurs at 1:45 a.m. Sunday June 21. Summer begins then as the Sun stands directly at local noon over the Tropic of Cancer. Throughout the northern hemisphere, the solstice midday Sun is the highest of the year, and days are longest.
MOON PHASES
The June Full Rose Moon will rise on the evening of Sunday, June 7 and set on the morning of Monday, June 8. This full moon is the lowest in the sky this year, and should appear deceptively large to many people. The June last quarter Moon occurs on Monday morning June 15. The June new moon occurs on Monday, June 22. The June 2009 first quarter Moon will occur on Sunday evening, June 28.
These dates and times are for southern Arizona, and are not necessarily Greenwich Mean Time dates, the moon phase dates used for calendars.
Note: Additional information can be accessed by phone at Flandrau Science Center’s Astronomy Newsline at (520) 621-4310 or as a menu option at 621-S-T-A-R.
Graphics done using Starry Night Pro, Starry Night Enthusiast and Adobe Photoshop. To purchase Starry Night Pro or Enthusiast, go to http://StarryNight.com