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As we begin another month, the same constellations that have been in the sky at this time for a thousand years are still visible. What changes is where the planets are. If you are an early riser, then you may be outside before sunrise to locate Saturn in the southeast and Jupiter in the east. To the lower left the faint speedy Mercury will put in a brief appearance, barely above the horizon so a view from the beach would be your best opportunity to catch a glimpse of the innermost planet.
Saturn will rise about 1:30 a.m., followed by Jupiter. This will make it likely to see both of them after 4 a.m. Jupiter is in the constellation Aries the Ram. Early in the month it is going to be a challenge to spy Jupiter, but by mid-month Jupiter will have brightened and will be higher above the horizon. There are a few opportunities to observe a transit of Io and Europa; check the Astronomy online site for details on accurate times for your area. Observing Jupiter and its four major moons, Io, Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede, will give you a better understanding of our galactic plane and our place in the solar system.
Binoculars will reveal Neptune standing 20 degrees above the horizon east of Saturn in the constellation Pisces. The stars of Pisces could help you locate the planet which is reflecting sunlight at a magnitude of 7.8.
The nighttime sky is still hosting a very faint Mars and a brilliant Venus in the western sky as darkness falls. The gap between these two planets is shrinking and you might want to graph the changes. This might be a good introduction to make math relative to a student who wonders why they “have to know that.” As June begins, Venus has moved from Gemini, lining up with Castor and Pollux, first magnitude stars that mark the twin’s heads, into Cancer the Crab within 10 degrees of Mars. The Beehive Cluster is also in the vicinity and would be a good “catch” with your telescope. It is very near the left side of Venus and below Mars.
Due south are examples of spectacular constellations. Imagine a wedge of pie in the sky to mark the southern sky. Within this slice is Scorpius, the Scorpion, a beautiful curving S strand of stars, marked with a bright red star near the beginning. The red star is Antares, the rival of Mars (Ares), a massive super giant old star that would enfold Earth within its boundaries if it were where our Sun is. At the far end is a pair of stars, the stingers, or the Cat’s Eyes asterism.
Beneath the scorpion is Lupus, the wolf; above is Libra, the scales. Almost overhead is the often mentioned constellation Boötes which resembles a kite. The very large constellation Ophiuchus is also along the edge of the pie slice. Rounding off the sights to see is the Teapot asterism within the constellation Sagittarius. To the right in the wedge is the constellation Virgo, and beneath Virgo is Corvus the Crow sitting on the back of Hydra the water snake and Crater the Chalice/Cup.
You may want to bring your elementary age children to visit the San Benito City Library on Tuesday, June 6 at 5 p.m. for a one-hour family friendly astronomy related experience. The activity is presented by a JPL/NASA volunteer Solar System Ambassador and it is related to colors of stars and how astronomers use color to gather information about objects in our solar system. There is no cost, and the library is a great place to wind down before heading home to have dinner.
Until next week, KLU.
