I was able to see Jupiter, the cloud bands on Jupiter, and a few of its moons with ease. The crescent moon was a very nice target as well, showing lots of detail near the terminator (where the light and the dark parts of the moon meet). Saturn was low on the eastern horizon, so I wasn't able to see any of the cloud bands, but the rings looked great! Saturn looked more orange than yellow due to it lying so low on the horizon. June will bring better views however.
I was also able to see a few deep space objects (DSO's), such as the Beehive Cluster, the Ring Nebula, the Sombero Galaxy, and of course the Hercules Cluster. It's amazing how big of a difference a dark sky makes versus a light polluted sky. All of these targets showed up much better in the eyepiece.
On the first night out, I saw some strange clouds in the sky, but did not have my camera to take any pictures. I learned a lesson there! That's why I went out the second night, to hopefully catch the strange phenomenon again and to be able to take some pictures to share. Unfortunately it did not make a repeat appearance the second night. I initially thought it could have been one of the comets that I had mentioned in my previous post, but upon further research, I've decided it was most likely noctilucent clouds. These are caused by meteor dust mixing with clouds that are high in the atmosphere. It causes the clouds to have a silvery-blue color to them when light from the Sun or the Moon reflects off of them. During past trips out to this same site, the clouds that are in the sky can not be seen unless they are in a long exposure picture. There are no city light illuminating the bottom part of the clouds, so they can not be seen with the naked eye.
 |
| Hercules, ready for action. |
 |
| Moon image taken with phone through eyepiece. |
 |
| Jupiter image with phone through eyepiece. |
 |
| Moon and a few stars at Area 62. |
 |
| Scorpius in the lower center. |
 |
| A few stars at Area 62. |
 |
| The Moon and more stars at Area 62. |
The nights are getting much warmer during the month of June. Hopefully it will be more pleasant and easier for you to get out under the stars to see some amazing sights. Planning a camping trip to a dark sky site, such as a national park, would be a great summer activity.
To start this month off, Venus will again shine brightly in the morning hours before sunrise. On the 20th and 21st, Venus and a crescent Moon will be found near each other, which creates a great photo opportunity. On the 30th, the Pleiades will be found close to Venus which will make another great photo opportunity. The phases of Venus will change all month, so be sure to give it a look if you can with a pair of binoculars or a telescope.
Mercury will again be visible in the morning just before sunrise. However, by around the 21st, it will be lost from view due to the Sun's glare and to positioning of Mercury in it's orbit relative to the Earth.
Neptune will be visible all month, but will not rise until later in the night. It can be found in the constellation of Aquarius and can be seen through binoculars or a larger instrument.
Uranus will be found near Venus in the morning sky and will likely be too difficult to spot until later in the month. Uranus will rise earlier as the month of June ticks by.
Mars will be found on the north-western horizon and will likely require binoculars to see since it will be in the glare of the setting Sun. By the second week of June, Mars will be lost from view and will not return until September.
Jupiter will shine brightly all night and should be easy to spot. It will be the brightest object in the night sky, except for the Moon of course. Jupiter reached opposition last month, but will still offer great binocular and telescope views. You should also be able to see the Great Red Spot easily if you have a telescope. I'm hoping to catch a glimpse this month!
The "star" this month will be Saturn. It will reach opposition on the 15th. The rings will offer spectacular views. You should even be able to see some of Saturn's larger moons with a telescope. The best time to view Saturn, as well as any object in the sky, is when it lies high in the sky so there is less atmosphere distorting the view.
June also offers three comets. Comet Johnson will make its closest approach to Earth on the 5th, and could brighten enough to be seen with the naked eye. It can be found near the constellation of Virgo. Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak will be slightly dimmer than what the naked eye can see, so use a pair of binoculars and look towards Ophiuchus to try and spot this comet. Finally, Comet PANSTARRS (C/2015 ER61) can be found in the morning sky in the constellation of Pisces. This comet will also require a pair of binoculars to view.
Here is your monthly breakdown.
June 09: Full Moon
June 15: Saturn at opposition
June 20: Moon and Venus close encounter
June 21: Summer solstice
June 23: New Moon
On June 30th, 1908 there was a large explosion that flattened approximately 770 square miles of forest in Siberia. This event has become known as the Tunguska event and was likely caused by a meteoroid explosion in the atmosphere. This is the largest impact event in recorded history. Studies are still being conducted to find out the true cause of this explosion.
On June 22, 1978, Charon, a moon of the dwarf planet Pluto, was discovered by James Christy. Charon is about half the size of Pluto. It was discovered using photographic plates, which are similar to digital pictures, today, only these "pictures" were on metal plates and would have to be examined one by one, by a person or group of people, to find a moving object against the background stars. Charon completes one orbit of Pluto about every 6.5 Earth days. In comparison, it takes our moon about 28 days to complete one orbit of the Earth.
On June 18, 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. She flew on the space shuttle Challenger twice before leaving NASA. She is still currently the youngest person to ever have flown to space. Sally Ride died on July 23, 2012.
On June 30, 2004, the spacecraft Cassini, reached Saturn. Cassini has returned many photos and lots of data on Saturn, its moons, and its ring system. It has been orbiting Saturn for nearly 13 years. Cassini's mission will likely end on September 15 of this year by the spacecraft diving into the atmosphere of Saturn.
Now get outside and look up!
