| What's in the Sky over Filkins? |
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| June 2009 |
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if you want to see more information or have a particular request for something that you would be interested in, please let me know by dropping me an e-mail at webmaster@filkins.org.uk |
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Highlights of the Month
Perhaps the last good month to observe Saturn in the evening sky
June 19th: Mars and Venus below a crescent Moon
* * * Noctilucent clouds * * *
The Sun
The Planets this month
June's Stars
Observe The International Space Station
The Jodcast
Links
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The Sun
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May
31st |
June
5th |
June
10th |
June
15th |
June
20th |
June
25th |
June
30th |
| SUNRISE |
04:51 |
04:47 |
04:44 |
04:43 |
04:43 |
04:44 |
04:47 |
| SUNSET |
21:29 |
21:34 |
21:39 |
21:42 |
21:44 |
21:45 |
21:44 |
All times are in BST |
The phases of the moon
| Phase |
New moon |
1st Quarter |
Full Moon |
Last Quarter |
| Date |
June 22nd |
June 29th |
June 7th |
June 15th |
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Highlights of the Month
Perhaps the last good month to observe Saturn in the evening sky
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Saturn
(A NASA image) |
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The moons of Saturn on June 10th
Image: Stellarium |
Saturn is now setting in the south-western sky after nightfall in the constellation of Leo. It lies well below the body of Leo some 8 degrees below the star Theta Leonis. One advantage of the rings lying at such a close angle (~3.5 degrees) to our line of sight is that there is less glare to hide Saturn's satellites. Late on the evening of June 10th, five of Saturn's brightest satellites nicely line up to the east of the planet and, given a transparent night, should make a very nice sight in a telescope of 6 or more inches in diameter. One should easily spot Titan at magnitude 8.4, and Rhea at magnitude 9.8, however, Dione (+10.5) and Tethys (+10.3) will be harder to observe and you may not find Enceladus at +11.8 magnitudes. Use as high a magnification as you can to just encompass Saturn and its satellites as this will make the sky background darker and so make the satellites show up more easily.
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June 19th: Mars and Venus below a crescent Moon
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Venus passes just 2 degrees below Mars around the 19th of June with, on that morning, a thin crescent Moon lying just 7 degrees just up to the right of Mars. One for early risers! |
June 19th : Early Morning.
Image Stellarium |
June: A very good time to spot Noctilucent Clouds!
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June: the chance to spot Noctilucent Clouds
Image: Wikipedia Commons |
Noctilucent clouds, also known as polar mesospheric clouds, are most commonly seen in the deep twilight towards the north from our latitude. They are the highest clouds in the atmosphere at heights of around 80 km or 50 miles. Normally too faint to be seen, they are visible when illuminated by sunlight from below the northern horizon whilst the lower parts of the atmosphere are in shadow. They are not fully understood and are increaing in frequencey, brightness and extent; some think that this might be due to climate change! So on a clear dark night as light is draining from the north western sky long after sunset just take a look towards the north and you might just spot them!
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The Planets |
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Mercury
Image: NASA |
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Mercury
Mercury reaches what is called "Western Elongation" on the 13th June which is when it lies furthest in angle from the Sun and seen before sunrise. However its elevation will be very low, and binoculars will almost certainly be needed to spot it (NB before the Sun rises!) at magnitude +0.6 given a very low north-eastern horizon.
Care should always be taken when looking for Mercury as it is often very close to the sun.
Don't scan around the sky with binoculars whilst the Sun is still above the horizon as you could accidentally look at the Sun itself and cause serious and permanent damage to your eyes in a split second. |
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Venus
Image: NASA |
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Venus
Venus is now visible in the pre-dawn sky. It will only lie 14 degrees above the horizon as the Sun rises on the first of June, so will be easier to spot later in the month. It is at magnitude -4.2 at mid month, just to the lower right of Mars. An interesting fact about its brightness is that it stays pretty constant at about -4.4 for most of the time that it is visible even though the apparent phase changes greatly. When the phase is thin, Venus is nearer to us and the effective reflecting area of Venus as seen from Earth remains pretty constant. See highlight above. |
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A Hubble Space
Telescope
image of Mars.
Credit:
Jim Bell et al.
(AURA/STScI/Nasa) |
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Mars
Mars still remains low in the pre-dawn sky this month but, as it rises increasingly earlier than the Sun as the month progresses, will become easier to spot. It has a magnitude of +1.2. By the end of the month, the angular separation from the Sun has increased to 47 degrees which helps, but as the ecliptic makes a small angle to the horizon, even then Mars will then be just 23 degrees above the horizon as the Sun rises on the last day of June. We will have to wait a month or so until it will be seen easily as the nights get longer! See highlight above. |
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A Cassini image
of Jupiter.
Credit: NASA |
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Jupiter
Jupiter, lying on the boundary of Aquarius and Capricornus, becomes more easily visible this month as its elevation in the pre-dawn sky is getting higher - about 24 degrees above the horizon by month's end. It rises at about 01:00 UT at the beginning of the month and 00:00 UT by the end of June. During June its separation from the Sun increases from 101 degrees to 131 degrees, and its magnitude slowly increases from -2.5 to -2.7. Sadly at the present time Jupiter is close to the lowest part of the ecliptic and never reaches more than ~25 degrees above the horizon even when it will be seen due south, so highest in the sky, later this year. It will lie to the lower left of the the Moon on the 12th in the pre-dawn sky. One problem with observing Jupiter with a telescope when it is so low in the sky is refraction in the atmosphere. This shifts the different colours of light in Jupiters image by differing amounts, so giving a blurred image. Using a green filter will help considerably in giving a cleaner image and I have even used a very narrow band OIII filter to observe Jupiter in monochromatic light giving excellent results. |
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Saturn:
Taken by the
Cassini Spacecraft
Credit: NASA |
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Saturn
Saturn is seen as twilight deepens lying in Leo - but somewhat below the main body of the Lion. Its magnitude is +1 - not as bright as usual, with Saturn significantly less bright this year than it sometimes is: the rings are very close to edge on and thus there is less apparent reflecting area. During June they are at an angle of just 3.5 degrees from the line of sight. The rings will be seen (or rather - not seen) edge-on later this year and it will not be until 2016 that they will be at their widest again. A small telescope will easily show its largest moon, Titan, and show some bands around the surface. See also the highlight above
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The Stars
The late evening June Sky
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The June Sky in the south - late evening.
(Click image to Enlarge) |
This map shows the constellations seen towards the south at about 11pm BST in mid June.
High over head towards the north (not shown on the chart) lies Ursa Major. As one moves southwards one first crosses the constellation Hercules with its magnificent globular cluster, M13, and then across the large but not prominent constellation Ophiucus until, low above the southern horizon lie Sagittarius and Scorpio. To the right of Hercules lie the arc of stars making up Corona Borealis and then Bootes with its bright star Arcturus. Rising in the east is the beautiful region of the Milky Way containing both Cygnus and Lyra. Below is Aquilla. The three bright stars Deneb (in Cygnus), Vega (in Lyra) and Altair (in Aquila) make up the "Summer Triangle".
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Observe the International Space Station
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The International Space Station |
Use the link below to find when the space station will be visible in the next few days.
In general, the space station can be seen either in the hour or so before dawn or the hour or so after sunset - this is because it is dark and yet the Sun is not too far below the horizon so that it can light up the space station.
As the orbit only just gets up the the latitude of the UK it will usually be seen to the south, and is only visible for a minute or so at each sighting.
Note that as it is in low-earth orbit the sighting details vary quite considerably across the UK. The NASA website linked to below gives details for several cities in the UK.
Find details of sighting possibilities from your location from: Location Index
See where the space station is now: Current Position
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The Jodcast
Listen to the Jodcast (or Jodrell Bank Podcast) for a monthly update on the Sky
http://www.jodcast.net/
Links
Views of the Solar system by Damian Peach
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