| What's in the Sky over Filkins? |
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| June 2008 |
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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
Last Chance to see Saturn in the evening sky
A nice skyscape -
The Moon, Mars and Saturn in the evening sky
Mars and Saturn in the evening sky
The late evening June Sky
The Planets this month
Download June's Newsletter
(The Newsletter is provided courtesy of Newbury Astronomy Society)
NOTE: This will be the last newletter until September when the Sky's get dark enough to see anything again.
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Last Chance to see Saturn in the evening sky
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Saturn imaged from Earth with an 11 inch telescope.
Image copyright: Damian Peach
(Click image to enlarge) |
To see more of Damian Peach's Images: Damian Peach's website
At magnitude +0.7, lies just under 3 degrees to the left of Regulus visible in the west after sunset in the constellation Leo. On the 8th of June it will lie above the 9 day old Moon. As the month progresses it moves eastwards in the sky until, at month's end, its seperation from Regulus has increased to nearly 5 degrees. See additional highlights. Saturn is not as bright this year as it sometimes is: the rings are closing (just ~ 9 degrees tilt to us and subtending only 5 arc seconds) and thus there is less apparent reflecting area. The rings will be seen (or rather - not seen) edge on in 2009 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.
June 7th:
A nice skyscape -
The Moon, Mars and Saturn in the evening sky
The Moon near Mars and Saturn.
Image: Stellarium/IM
Looking west just after the Sun has set on the evening of the 7th June, you should, if clear, see the 8 day old Moon with Mars up to its right whilst above and to the left will be seen Regulus, in Leo, with Saturn just a few degrees beyond.
June 30th:
Mars and Saturn in the evening sky
Mars and Saturn in Leo.
Image: Stellarium/IM
Looking west just after the Sun has set on the evening of the 30th June, you should, if clear, see Mars just 3/4 of a degree up and to the right of Regulus in the constellation Leo whilst Saturn, nearly 5 degrees up and to the left of Regulus will also be seen. This nice grouping will nicely fit into a binocular field of view.
The Stars
The late evening June Sky
The June Sky in the south - late evening.
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 Planets |
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Mercury
Image: NASA |
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Mercury
Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun on June 7th (called inferior conjunction) so will not be visible until the end of the month when it rises low in the east-northeast just before dawn. Aldebaran will be to its upper right but then two can be distingusihed as Aldebaran will be seen to twinkle whereas the light from Mercury be appear to be steadier. From the 21st June to 30th it will increase in brightness from +2.1 to +0.6. It reaches its greatest angular seperation from the Sun, called "greatest elongation" on July 1st.
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 at superior conjunction - on the far side of the Sun - on June 9th, so will not be visible during June. We will have to wait until the end of July when it will become visible low in the west after sunset. |
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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 begins June with a magnitude of +1.5 lying ~18 degrees to the lower right of Regulus in Leo. During the month it moves towards Regulus and on June 30th is just 3/4 of a degree to Regulus's upper right - see highlight above . After sunset on the 7th June it will lie just to the upper right of the thin crescent, 8 day old, Moon. The disk, now just under 5 arc seconds across, is now so small that it will be virtually impossible to see any details on the salmon pink surface. |
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A Cassini image
of Jupiter.
Credit: NASA |
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Jupiter
Jupiter rises in the south-east at about 11 pm BST at the beginnign of June but, by the end of the month, just half an hour after sunset. It lies in the constellation Sagittarius, and as the Earth moves around the Sun "on the inside track" we see Jupiter moving westwards relative to the stars - so called retrograde motion. It begins June at magnitude -2.6 with an angular diameter of 47 arc seconds and, as it moves towards opposition on July 9th these increase to -2.7 and 47.2 arc seconds. However, it is now at the lowest point of the ecliptic in the sky and will only rise to about 15 degrees elevation in the early hours of the morning when it is in the south. Thus, sadly, this year our views of Jupiter from northern latitudes will be rather poor. Despite the low elevation, even a small telescope will show the Galilean Moons as they weave their way around it. Due to refraction, we see Jupiter at very slightly different elevations in the different colours of the spectrum, thus bluring the image. A cleaner image may seen if one observes through a narrow band filter such as an OIII filter. |
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Saturn:
Taken by the
Cassini Spacecraft
Credit: NASA |
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Saturn
Saturn is now high in the southern-western sky during the evening lying, as May begins, in the constellation of Leo just 2 degrees to the left of Leo's brightest star, Regulus. It starts the month at magnitude +0.5 with an angular size of ~18.7 arc seconds and these fall to +0.7 and 17.7 as the month progresses. Saturn is not as bright this year as it sometimes is: the rings are closing (just ~ 9 degrees tilt to us and subtending only 5 arc seconds) and thus there is less apparent reflecting area. The rings will be seen (or rather - not seen) edge on in 2009 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 Highlight above |
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