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Starwatch NewsletterMinnesota Starwatch is a newsletter describing the night sky in the Midwest.
It is updated monthly, and is produced by the |
Minnesota Starwatch for June 2008
This month starts with a new moon on the 3rd, first quarter on the 10th, a full moon on the 18th, and last quarter on the 26th. The moon will be closest to Earth (perigee) on the 3rd and furthest from Earth (apogee) on the 16th. The moon will pass close to Mars on the evening of June 7th, close to Saturn on the evening of June 8th, and across the Pleiades star cluster on June 30th.
June marks the turning point for the transition from longer days to shorter days. The summer solstice, marking the beginning of summer, occurs on the evening of June 20th. In Minnesota we will have a little more than 15 1/2 hours of daylight that day. Although there is not very much nighttime in June, there are a number of great viewing possibilities.
This June is a great month for viewing the planets Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and toward the end of the month, Mercury becomes visible again.
Mars is a bright object in the western sky after sunset. On June 7th, a waxing crescent moon will pass by very close to Mars. By the end of the month, Mars will be within one degree of the bright star Regulus. Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo, has a surface temperature that is more than twice as hot as our sun's, and, therefore is seen as bluish-white. You can compare its color to that of the reddish Mars. While you're looking at Mars, you can imagine what the two Mars rovers are doing that day or NASA's Phoenix spacecraft which recently landed successfully near the northern pole of Mars.
Saturn is also easy to view in the western sky after sunset. It is somewhat higher in the sky than Mars, about 18 degrees away and toward the south. This month Saturn is brighter than Mars. Although Saturn is further away, it has a much larger surface to reflect the sun's light back toward us. At the beginning of the month Saturn is just 3 degrees away from Regulus, moving to a distance of 5 degrees by the end of the month. On June 8th, the moon will pass very close to both Regulus and Saturn. Saturn's rings are close to edge-on; you will need a small telescope to see them protruding from the disk of the planet.
Jupiter rises in the early evening and is visible all night long, so it will be seen toward the south around midnight. Of the three planets visible in the evening, Jupiter is the brightest. With binoculars you can see the "Galilean Satellites", the four moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo in the year 1609 or 1610. They orbit with periods ranging from two days to two and a half weeks, so their relative positions are different every night. The moon will pass quite close to Jupiter on the evenings of the 19th and 20th.
Mercury is the one planet visible by naked eye that is difficult to find. Most people have never identified Mercury in the night sky. The reason is quite simple. Because Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, it is never more than 28 degrees away from the sun. Thus, it either rises just before the sun or sets just shortly after the sun sets. This month, Mercury is just becoming visible in the morning sky at the end of the month. The most favorable viewing of Mercury will occur when it is at the largest angular separation from the sun, which will occur on July 1st. Venus is too close to the sun for any viewing at all this month.
For fun Astronomy Outreach programs check out our Public Outreach link, or if you're interested in how y ou can help build the new Minnesota Planetarium, please visit www.mnplanetarium.org.
The Como Planetarium in St. Paul's Como Park offers limited star shows. For mor e information, call (651) 293-5398 or check their website at www.planetarium.spps.org.