THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249 www.usm.maine.edu/planet
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N, 70.2667° W
Founded January 1970
"Keeping a watchful eye on a complex sky"
SATURDAY, JUNE 11: MOON 1.4 DEGREES SSW OF JUPITER
Jupiter draws closer to the Sun each night. Tonight, we'll see the giant
planet close to the waxing crescent moon in the western evening sky. An
easy sight for those who prefer to observe celestial objects at a decent
hour.
SUNDAY, JUNE 12: FIRST QUARTER MOON
SUNDAY, JUNE 12: EQUATION OF TIME EQUALS 0
What the devil does this statement mean? Simply, the Sun will cross the
meridian (due south) at noon time precisely. Most of the time, the Sun
crosses the meridian (or, reaches upper culmination) either before or just
after noon. The time of upper culmination varies primarily because Earth's
orbital is not perfectly circular and our orbital velocity is not
constant. Today, however. when the clock strikes noon, the Sun will be
due south and the day's shadows will be at minimum length.
MONDAY, JUNE 13: MARS AND SATURN AT HELIOCENTRIC CONJUNCTION
Again, nothing to see here. However, Mars and Saturn will be aligned
relative to the Sun today!
FRIDAY, JUNE 17: MOON 6.9 DEGREES NNE OF MARS
The waxing gibbous moon is close to the red planet tonight. Even though
Mars is slowly diminishing in brightness, it remains brighter than any
night sky star and is quite easy to observe, especially as it appears so
close to the moon.
SUNDAY, JUNE 19: MOON 3.2 DEGREES N OF SATURN
Though not as bright as Mars, Saturn remains a conspicuous object owing to
its recent opposition. Also, you might want to observe the moon on June
18th, when it will appear between Mars and Saturn.
MONDAY, JUNE 20: SUMMER SOLSTICE (GOLD EVENT!!!)
What a beautiful day! Today, the Sun attains its highest altitude in our
sky as a consequence of Earth's polar alignment. The planet is tilted on
its axis relative to the vertical by 23.5 degrees or thereabouts.
Consequently. as Earth revolves around the Sun, the north pole's alignment
relative to the Sun always changes. On the summer (June) solstice, it
points toward the Sun. Six months later on the winter (December) solstice,
the north pole points away from the Sun. Happy Astronomical Summer!
MONDAY, JUNE 20: FULL MOON
It is often said that the moon is low in the summer and high in the
winter. This statement is certainly true about the FULL MOON. The moon
is travels along the ecliptic band, a thin region surrounding the the
ecliptic, the Sun's apparent annual path through the sky. This part of the
ecliptic the Sun occupies in the summer is high and the part it occupies in
the winter is low. The summer and winter sections of the ecliptic are
180 degrees apart. The full moon is 180 degrees away from the Sun. So,
when the moon is full on or around the winter solstice, the Sun will be low
and the moon will be high, as it will be positioned around the high point
of the ecliptic. Conversely, the full moon on or around the summer solstice
will be low along the ecliptic. Hence the expression: the moon in summer
is low and the moon in winter is high.
The June full moon's names are a beautiful array of sweet sobriquets,
harkening back to the golden age when fellowships were universal, conflicts
impossible, weather uniformly clement, crop yields copious (quite a feat
without rain), and loveliness pervaded the land from summit to sea to
valley. Although life today is a mite more gritty, we've retained the
names of Honey moon, Milk moon, Strawberry moon and Rose moon.
TUESDAY, JUNE 21: SUN ENTERS GEMINI
The Sun leaves Taurus the Bull and enters Gemini the Twins. This apparent
annual solar migration results directly from Earth's orbital motion around
the Sun. As our planet whips around the fiery orb, our perspective on the
stars changes. Presently, Earth is on the far side of the Sun relative to
the Gemini stars, and therefore the Sun appears to move through that
constellation. Each year, the Sun moves through thirteen constellations:
those comprising the ecliptic, or the "zodiac." The ecliptic constellations
are GEMINI THE TWINS, Cancer the Crab, Leo the Lion, Virgo the Maiden,
Libra the Scales, Scorpius the Scorpion, Ophiuchus the Serpent Charmer,
Sagittarius the Archer, Capricornus the Seagoat, Aquarius the Water Bearer,
Pisces the Fish, Aries the Ram, and Taurus the Bull. The Sun will enter
Cancer the Crab on July 20.
MONDAY, JUNE 27: LAST QUARTER MOON
THURSDAY, JUNE 30: MARS STATIONARY
In the April 2016 Night Sky Calendar, the DA wrote for April 17th; *"No,
Mars won't stop. The planets have been moving continuously for billions of
years and will continue to do so for billions of more years. However,
Mars will appear to stop moving in a prograde (eastward) fashion and then
will begin retrograde (westward) motion as it approaches its May 22
opposition."*
Mars has been moving in a retrograde loop since April 17th and will appear
to become stationary again before resuming prograde motion. Note that a
planet in prograde motion moves from west to east, while it moves from east
to west when in retrograde.
PLANET WATCH
MERCURY: Mercury lurks in the pre-dawn eastern sky at month's beginning
and reaches its greatest western elongation on June 5th. During the first
half of June, Mercury brightens, but then will vanish into the morning
twilight late this month. VERDICT: Find Mercury easily in the early
morning sky early in June. By late June, don't bother.
VENUS: Not visible at all this month. Technically, Venus will return to
the evening sky by late July (very late July). However, we shouldn't
expect to see Venus again until early August. VERDICT: Alas, nothing to
see here.
MARS: A gorgeous evening planet! Still bright throughout the month, even
though it will be growing slightly dimmer as Earth moves away from Mars.
VERDICT: See Mars easily all month! A beautiful red world in the
southeastern evening sky.
JUPITER: Losing a bit of its luster, but still quite bright, Jupiter begins
the night in the western evening sky. We'll lose Jupiter to the dusk in
September. Now, the behemoth planet remains an easy sight for those who
prefer early night viewing. VERDICT: Simple to find and wonderful to see
in the early evening.
SATURN (Pick Planet): We don't often choose Saturn to be the pick planet,
but this month it is at opposition and this designation seems
appropriate. VERDICT: Though not as bright as Mars or Jupiter, Saturn is
at its brightest of the year. Find it throughout the night.
PLANETS IN ORDER OF DESCENDING BRIGHTNESS
Early June:
JUPITER/MARS (tie) - SATURN - MERCURY
Mid-June
JUPITER - MARS - MERCURY SATURN
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FROM THE CATACOMBS OF INFINITE KNOWLEDGE
A refractor telescope uses lenses; a reflector telescope uses mirrors
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