Abrams Planetarium SKYWATCHER'S DIARY: June 1995 (Editor: The Skywatcher's Diary for June 1995 has been prepared by David Nette and Robert Victor. Credit to Abrams Planetarium, Department of Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University would be appreciated. Our illustrated *Sky Calendar* accompanies the printed version of Skywatcher's Diary as it is sent monthly to Michigan newspapers, but does not accompany this Internet version. If you would like a sample copy, send your request with a self- addressed, stamped envelope to Sky Calendar, Abrams Planetarium, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824. This month's most striking sights include the moon passing near planets and bright stars, on the evenings of June 4, 5, 8, and 11, and on the mornings of June 12, 15, 25, and 26. Morning events are mentioned in Skywatcher's Diary one day prior to the event.) The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University has now made Skywatcher's Diary available over the Internet. It can be accessed via a World-Wide Web browser such as Netscape or Mosiac, directly at URL: http://www.pa.msu.edu/abrams/diary.html Thursday, June 1 At dusk the moon is low in the W to WNW with bright Procyon 11 degrees lower left. The Gemini Twins shine 12 to 16 degrees upper right of the moon. Jupiter is at opposition, 180 degrees from the Sun and up all night. Look low in SE at dusk for bright steady yellowish Jupiter with reddish twinkling Antares 5 degrees lower right. Friday, June 2 As dusk deepens, the crescent moon is in W with Procyon, the Little Dog Star, 12 degrees below. The Gemini Twins, Pollux and slightly fainter Castor, are to the right of the moon and a little higher. Mother Goat Star Capella shines low in NW, far to Twins' lower right. This is our final weekend of shows until September. Call (517) 355- 4672 for information. Saturday, June 3 Can you see the three bright planets now in the morning sky? An hour before sunup look low in SW for bright Jupiter with reddish Antares 5 degrees to its lower left. Look in ESE for yellowish Saturn. Watch for the rising of Venus in ENE as twilight brightens. Sunday, June 4 One hour after sundown the moon is well up in the WSW with first- magnitude Regulus 6 degrees above. Ruddy Mars lies 10 degrees upper left of the crescent moon and 5 degrees upper left of blue- white Regulus. Watch Mars sink from nearly halfway overhead tonight to less than one-third of the way up by month's end. Monday, June 5 An hour after sunset the moon, approaching First Quarter, is in the WSW with reddish Mars 8 degrees to its upper right. Regulus, the heart of Leo, shines 6 degrees lower right of Mars and 12 degrees from the moon. Regulus marks the end of the handle of the Sickle, which forms Leo's head and mane. Tuesday, June 6 This week is the second of three conjunctions of Jupiter and Antares this year. Watch them travel together across the southern sky these nights, with the reddish twinkling star Antares only 5 degrees south of brilliant Jupiter. Their final pairing will come in September. Wednesday, June 7 Tomorrow night, bright Jupiter passes just 1/3 of a degree N of the 4.5-magnitude star Omega Ophiuchi. Can you see the star with unaided eye? If not, it will be an easy sight for binoculars, twice as far from the planet tomorrow as the farthest wandering of Callisto, outermost of Jupiter's four bright Galilean moons. If you look nightly, this is a great chance to detect the retrograde (apparent backward) motion of Jupiter from night to night. Jupiter is now moving west by 1/8 of a degree per day, and will come to a stop at its "stationary point" at the start of August. Thursday, June 8 The moon is well up, just W of due south at dusk. Bluish Spica, the spike of wheat in Virgo, shines close to the moon's lower left at dusk. The moon will occult, or cover, Spica tonight from most of western and central U.S., except from southernmost California eastward to most of Texas and Mississippi, where the moon passes narrowly north of Spica. >From lower Michigan tonight, Spica is only 2 degrees lower left of the moon at dusk. Use binoculars, or better yet, a telescope to watch the moon creep ever closer to Spica hour by hour until it covers it (at 2:49 a.m. from Traverse City, 2:57 a.m. from Lansing). By then the moon and Spica will be about to set across lower Michigan. Skywatchers farther west in the U.S. will get a better view. Maps helping to predict the times of the occultation for any locality appeared in the June issue of Sky & Telescope, pp. 72-73. Friday, June 9 The moon is just east of due south at dusk. Spica, in Virgo, shines 12 degrees to the gibbous moon's upper right. Jupiter and Antares are 34 degrees to moon's lower left; watch the moon close in on them throughout this weekend. Tonight and Saturday, MSU Observatory will be open for public viewing, from 9 p.m. until 11 p.m. if skies are clear. Featured will be telescopic views of the moon and Jupiter. Saturday, June 10 The moon is in SSE one hour after sunset, with bright Jupiter 18 degrees to its lower left. Antares remains 5 degrees lower right of Jupiter. Sunday, June 11 At dusk the nearly full moon is low in the SE with bright Jupiter only 3 degrees to its lower left. Antares in Scorpius is 7 degrees below the moon and 5 degrees from Jupiter. Watch the moon close in on Jupiter througout the night. By two hours before sunrise Monday, the moon is very low in SW with bright Jupiter just 1 degree to its lower left. Antares is then 7 degrees to the moon's lower left. Monday, June 12 The southernmost Full Moon of this year rises in the ESE about half an hour before sunset, as seen from northern U.S. An hour after sunset, the "Strawberry Moon" is higher, with bright Jupiter 12 degrees to its upper right. Antares is still 5 degrees south of Jupiter. Two hours before sunup Tuesday, look for the moon in the SSW to SW, with Jupiter and Antares about 15 degrees to moon's lower right. Tuesday, June 13 An hour after sunset look high in NW for the seven bright stars of the Big Dipper. Use its handle to locate two bright stars in the southern sky: "Follow the arc (of the handle of the Dipper) to Arcturus, and drive a spike to Spica." Wednesday, June 14 Can you spot the Summer Triangle in the evening sky? Between NE and E at dusk, in order from left to right, they are Deneb, Vega, and Altair. Vega, the brightest, is at the top of the Triangle. Altair is lowest and nearly due east at dusk. Thursday, June 15 At dusk Mars is well up in WSW, 11 degrees E (upper left) of Regulus. Bright Jupiter is low in the SE to SSE, 5-1/2 degrees E of Beta in the head of Scorpius, and 5-1/2 degrees N of Antares. Watch for changes in their positions against background stars for the rest of this month. Mars will go E about half a degree per day, while Jupiter creeps W toward Beta Scorpii by only about 0.1 degree per day. Friday, June 16 Look low in NNE two hours after sundown for the W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia. Watch over the next several hours as Cassiopeia circles around Polaris, the North Star. Through the night, Cassiopeia rises higher while the Big Dipper sinks lower, as both remain on opposite sides of the Pole Star. When it's highest above Polaris, Cassiopeia resembles an "M", while the Big Dipper is just above the northern horizon. Saturday, June 17 The moon now rises well after nightfall, allowing fine views of the Milky Way. Follow the Milky Way's course through Cassiopeia low in NNE, through Cygnus and the Summer Triangle, toward the Teapot of Sagittarius low in SE. Sunday, June 18 The waning gibbous moon is in the SE an hour before sunup on Monday, with yellowish Saturn 6 degrees lower left. Note the moon, approaching Last Quarter, appears slightly more than half full. If observed with a telescope, Saturn appears "ringless" until August 11, as the rings' darkened underside is tipped slightly toward Earth until then. Monday, June 19 The moon, past Last Quarter, has passed to the east of Saturn in the SE an hour before sunup Tuesday morning. Look for the "ringless" planet 10 degrees to the moon's lower right. In late June-early July, Saturn's rings are tipped only 0.6 degree from edge-on. Tuesday, June 20 When will you last see Leo the Lion in the evening sky? Look in the W for first-magnitude Regulus, the heart of Leo. Second-magnitude Denebola, the tail of the Lion, is higher in the WSW, 25 degrees to Regulus' upper left. Reddish Mars slightly outshines Regulus. Look for Mars 13 degrees upper left of Regulus and 14 degrees lower right of Denebola. Wednesday, June 21 The Summer Solstice occurs at 4:34 p.m. EDT, marking the beginning of summer! At midday today, from anyplace north of the Tropic of Cancer, the Sun reaches its greatest altitude of the year above your horizon. (Midday occurs midway between your local sunrise and sunset times, and NOT at 12:00 noon.) Thursday, June 22 At dawn's first light on Friday, the waning crescent moon is very low in ENE to E. The main stars of Aries the Ram shine 12 degrees above the moon. Use binoculars to see the Pleiades star cluster just rising 20 degrees to moon's lower left. Friday, June 23, One an a half hours before sunup Saturday the thin crescent moon is very low in the ENE with the Pleiades star cluster 9 degrees to its left. Just 45 minutes before sunup if you have an unobstructed view, look for Venus rising 23 degrees to moon's lower left. Binoculars may show Mercury 6 degrees right of Venus, and Aldebaran 2-1/2 degrees right of Mercury. Viewers from southern and Southwest U.S. will be favored to see this gathering of two planets and a star gradually widening over the next few mornings. Saturday, June 24 Forty-five minutes before sunup Sunday the moon is very low in the ENE with brilliant Venus 13 degrees lower left. Elusive Mercury is just 7 or 8 degrees lower left of the crescent, and nearly 7 degrees upper right of Venus. Aldebaran, eye of Taurus, is 3 degrees right of Mercury. Use binoculars for Mercury and Aldebaran. Sunday, June 25 Look early, 30 minutes before sunrise Monday, for the Old Moon very low in the ENE. Note the crescent appears tipped on its side, as if pouring its water out. Brilliant Venus is only 4 degrees upper left of the crescent. Binoculars help locate the pair in bright twilight. Monday, June 26 An hour or so after sunset face NW and locate the seven bright stars of the Big Dipper. Imagine its bowl filled with water. If the bowl sprang a leak, its contents would pour on the back of poor Leo, now in the west, and the Lion would let out a loud roar! Tuesday, June 27 The New moon occurs at 8:50 p.m. EDT. The moon, 5 degrees south of the Sun, is at apogee, the point in its orbit farthest from Earth. The occurrence of New Moon while far south of the Sun and farthest from Earth makes the moon linger in the Sun's glare for several days. Wednesday, June 28 An hour before sunrise Saturn is well up in the SSE. Saturn's rings are 0.6 degree from edge on with the shaded side tipped toward Earth. Using a telescope, can you see the rings and their shadow as two narrow dark lines on the face of the planet? Thursday, June 29 Look early, half an hour after sunset, for the Young Moon very low in the WNW. Binoculars will aid in the search for the thin crescent in bright twilight. Viewers in the southern and Southwest U.S., where the moon sets later in a darker sky, will get an easier view of the 2- day-old crescent. Friday, June 30 Within an hour after sundown the 3-day-old waxing crescent moon is very low, between W and WNW, with bluish Regulus, the heart of Leo, 18 degrees to its upper left. That glow you see on the moon's dark side is earthshine, or sunlight reflected off the Earth to illuminate the moon. ********** End of Skywatcher's Diary for June, 1995 **********