SkyEye: June

Welcome to SkyEye, your guide to this month's celestial events. All times and dates are given in Universal Time (UT). Daily darkness estimates are calculated for Greenwich, London (51.5° N, 0° W).

Calendar of Events - June

Date		Event
3	Thu	Full Moon
3	Thu	Moon at perigee
8	Tue	The next transit of Venus will not take place until 2012.
9	Wed	Last Quarter Moon
11	Fri	Pluto at opposition
17	Thu	Moon at apogee
17	Thu	New Moon
18	Fri	Mercury at superior conjunction
21	Mon	Solstice occurs today on our planet, marking the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere and the start of winter in the south. During the longest days of the summer, observers north of about 50° north latitude never experience true darkness.
25	Fri	First Quarter Moon

The Solar System

The word planet is derived from the Greek word for "wanderer." Unlike the background stars, planets seem to move around the sky, keeping mostly to a narrow track called the ecliptic, the path of the Sun across the stars.

Sun: Location: Taurus -> Gemini
Comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT): Location: Ursa Major
This comet continues to diminish in brightness as it heads away from the Sun and the Earth.
Comet C/2002 T7 (LINEAR): Location: Hydra
We bid farewell to this comet as it fades from view.
Mercury: Location: Aries -> Taurus -> Gemini
The closest planet to the Sun descends below the eastern horizon as it races towards conjunction on 18 June. It reappears late inthe month in the west at sunset.
Venus: Location: Taurus
This inner planet is too close to the Sun to be seen this month. The rare transit which occurs on 8 June should not be observed without proper equipment since it is always extremely dangerous to look at the Sun.
Mars: Location: Gemini -> Cancer
Mars continues to set earlier and earlier, now retiring by mid-evening.
Jupiter: Location: Leo
This giant planet is an evening sky object, setting around midnight.
Saturn: Location: Gemini
This month, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft crosses the orbit of Phoebe, Saturn's most distant moon, on its way to its rendevous with the ringed planet. However, it will be getting increasingly difficult to see Saturn as it becomes lost in the setting Sun's glare.
Uranus: Location: Aquarius
This distant gas giant becomes an evening sky object as it finally rises before midnight.
Neptune: Location: Capricornus
Telescopic aids will be necessary to see Neptune when it rises in the late evening hours.
Pluto: Location: Serpens (Cauda)
With a brightness of around fourteenth magnitude, the smallest planet in the solar system can be seen only through a good-sized telescope. Because it is at opposition this month, it can be observed all night.

The Celestial Sphere

Constellations are patterns of stars in the sky. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) recognises 88 different constellations. The brightest stars as seen from the Earth are easy to spot but do you know their proper names? With a set of binoculars you can look for fainter objects such as nebulae and galaxies or some of the closest stars to the Sun.

Descriptions of the sky for observers in both the northern and southern hemispheres are available for the following times this month. Subtract one hour from your local time if daylight savings time is in effect. (Note: These times are approximate.)

Northern Hemisphere : 45° N

1730 hours (1830 hours daylight savings)
1930 hours (2030 hours daylight savings)
2130 hours (2230 hours daylight savings)
2330 hours (0030 hours daylight savings)
0130 hours (0230 hours daylight savings)
0330 hours (0430 hours daylight savings)
0530 hours (0630 hours daylight savings)

Southern Hemisphere : 30° S

1730 hours (1830 hours daylight savings)
1930 hours (2030 hours daylight savings)
2130 hours (2230 hours daylight savings)
2330 hours (0030 hours daylight savings)
0130 hours (0230 hours daylight savings)
0330 hours (0430 hours daylight savings)
0530 hours (0630 hours daylight savings)

For More Information...

Consult our online glossary for non-technical explanations of many of the astronomical terms used in these pages.
Blue moons, eclipses, the dates of Easter and much more can be found at the Interactive Astronomy Pages.
For more information about the objects and events described in SkyEye, visit these astronomy-related sites.

Credits

Much of this information can be found in this month's issue of your favourite amateur astronomy magazine available in your local bookshop. Another excellent source is the current edition of the Astronomical Calendar by Guy Ottewell and published by the Universal Workshop at Furman University.

The image of the Sun in the SkyEye banner is courtesy of the SOHO/EIT consortium. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA. Used with permission.