Monthly Night Sky Report: June 2024

               Introduction

     May was something else for Utahns and many others around the world. I saw and imaged the northern lights but still can't believe that I actually saw them! Utahns did experience a few nice days and plenty of cloudy, rainy days during May. Despite these stormy days, I captured many images of the Moon and Sun throughout the month.

    June will be a relatively quiet month, astronomically. No major meteor showers will occur this month, but a few comets may be visible if a dark sky is available. The summer solstice occurs this month, marking the day with the longest amount of daylight and shortest amount of night—an astronomer's least favorite time of year! The highlights for June will include a planetary conjunction between Jupiter and Mercury, the Moon passing close to a few bright stars, and six planets aligning in the morning sky.  

         

             

Mercury

    Mercury will spend the first half of June in the morning sky and will be the last planet to rise in this month's planetary lineup. On the 1st, Uranus will be just 2° from the innermost planet, but it will require optical aid to see. A few short mornings later, Jupiter and Mercury will be less than 1° apart from our perspective. A high elevation and clear view of the eastern horizon will be required to see this pairing. Mercury will reach superior conjunction on the 14th and will return to the evening sky a few days later. By the end of the month, the innermost planet can be seen hovering approximately 10° above the western horizon, shining at -0.7 magnitude.      

  

Venus

    While the other planets are lining up in the sky, Venus will be hiding in the glare of the Sun. The Earth's evil twin will return to the evening sky in July.     

    

Mars

    Mars will follow Saturn and Neptune in the morning sky during the planetary lineup in June. The Red Planet will rise close to 3:00 AM for Utahns at the beginning of the month and earlier with each passing morning. Mars may offer some surface detail through a telescope, with observations improving throughout the year as the planet nears opposition. A thin crescent Moon will pass close by the Red Planet on the 2nd.

Jupiter

Saturn

    Jupiter will be the last planet to rise on the first morning of June. By the 4th, Mercury will have sunk closer to the horizon, rising at about the same time as this gas giant. The pair will be less than half a degree from each other on this date. With each passing day, Jupiter will rise earlier, surpassing Mercury on the 4th. By the end of the month, Jupiter will rise nearly two hours before the Sun. The Moon will be close by on the 5th but may be too hard to spot due to the morning glare of the Sun.  

   Saturn will be the first planet to rise during June. This planet will rise nearly three hours before the Sun at the start of the month and shortly after midnight by month's end. The rings of Saturn will be edge-on from our perspective next year, so be sure to give the rings a good look in 2024. Saturn will reach opposition later this year, rising as the Sun sets. The Moon will join Saturn in the sky on the 27th when the pair is less than a tenth of a degree apart. 

   

       

Neptune

Uranus

    

    Uranus will rise around 5:00 AM on June 1st, being the fourth planet in the planetary lineup. This ice giant will be hard to spot in the morning glow of the Sun, but visibility will improve as the month continues and the planet rises earlier. Mercury can be found less than three degrees as the month opens, but this distance will increase with each passing day. The Moon will be just four degrees above this planet on the 4th.    

 
    Neptune will rise about an hour after Saturn and will be the second planet in the planetary lineup. Seeing this most distant planet will require optical aid. The Moon will be less than half a degree away on the 28th.   

The Planets Align

    Six of the seven planets will align in the morning sky during the first few days of June. Saturn will be the first planet to rise, followed by Neptune. Mars, the third planet to rise, should be easy to spot an hour or so before sunrise. Uranus, Mercury, and Jupiter will be harder to locate in the morning twilight. The best dates to view these planets will be the 3rd and 4th. Mercury will be close to Jupiter and Uranus on these dates, aiding in finding dim Uranus in the morning twilight. A camera with a widefield lens will help capture all six planets.

    Comet Olbers will still be visible during June but will fall below the horizon shortly after sunset. This comet can be found in the northwest near the feet of the Great Bear, Ursa Major. Optical aid will be required to view this comet and imagers should be rewarded with a blueish tail. 

    On the 16th, the Moon will pass close by Spica, a bright variable star in Virgo. Four days later, the Moon will have traveled close to Antares, the red eye of Scorpius. The pair will be less than half a degree apart on this date. I like to use Antares to find the Milky Way band before twilight has left the sky.  

Monthly Breakdown

June 02: Moon passes within 2° of Mars
June 04: Moon passes within 4° of Uranus
June 04: Jupiter and Mercury conjunction  
June 04: Venus and Sun conjunction
June 05: Moon passes within 5° of Jupiter
June 06: New Moon 🌑
June 14: Mercury and Sun conjunction

June 14: First Quarter Moon 🌓

June 16: Moon passes within 2° of Spica

June 20: Moon passes within 0.5° of Antares 

June 20: Summer Solstice 

June 21: Full Moon 🌕

June 27: Moon passes within 0.1° of Saturn 

June 28: Moon passes within 0.5° of Neptune

June 28: Last Quarter Moon🌗

         

Now get outside and look up!

Planet images were taken by NASA.

Andrew vs. the Cosmos image was taken by Jeff Greenland.

The Milky Way and Trees image was taken by Andrew Greenland.

Orion, Taurus, and Pleiades image was taken by Andrew Greenland.

                

                

Midmonth Check-In: May 2024 and Uranus

   

  Introduction and Monthly Reminders   

    The first half of May has been a rollercoaster of a month. Utah has experienced a few days in the 80s, with others filled with rain, snow, and wind advisories. On the 10th of May, due to a very active Sun, observers in Utah were able to see the Aurora Borealis, aka the Northern Lights. Below are a few images I captured of the Sun and the lights.

The right side shows the sunspot region that produced the Aurora Borealis in Utah.

Zoomed in image of sunspot region that produced the Aurora Borealis in Utah.

Aurora Borealis facing north taken with my phone.

Aurora Borealis facing northeast taken with my phone.

Aurora Borealis facing northwest taken with my phone.

    The remainder of May does not offer much excitement unless the northern lights are visible again in Utah. I recommend using the Space Weather Live app to show the chances of seeing the northern lights in your area. I have used this app mainly to check the live view of the Sun and see if there are any visible sunspots. On the Auroral activity tab, a map shows where the northern lights are visible. I have also used Aurora, an app that will notify the user if there is a chance of seeing the northern lights in your area. This app also has an interactive map of the aurora and the chance to see it in the user's area. 

Uranus

    Uranus formed with the Sun and the rest of the solar system some 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists think that Uranus formed much closer to the Sun but has since moved to the outer solar system, where it is now the 7th planet. Instead of primarily being made of hydrogen and helium like the gas giants, Uranus is mainly made up of water ice mixed with methane and ammonia, putting this planet in the ice giant category instead of gas giant. Uranus is the third largest planet in the solar system but ranks seventh in density, beating out Saturn. 

    William Herschel discovered Uranus in 1781, which Johann Bode confirmed. It was also the first planet discovered using a telescope. Herschel wanted to name the planet "Georgium Sidus" after King George III, but Bode instead named it for the Greek god of the sky, Uranus.  

    Uranus orbits the Sun at 19 AU, requiring a pair of binoculars or a telescope to see. Since methane gas absorbs red light, Uranus's reflected sunlight gives it a blue-green color. The seventh planet is approximately four times larger than Earth, but rotates quickly, giving it a 17-hour day. However, a year on this planet is approximately 84 years on Earth. Uranus is the only planet, other than Venus, that rotates in the opposite direction compared to the other planets. 

    Like the other outer planets, Uranus has a ring system. They are quite faint when compared to Saturn's rings, but can still be viewed from Earth with a powerful telescope and proper filters. Uranus also has many moons. The latest count was 28 with all of them named after William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope characters instead of Greek or Roman mythology. 

    Sometime in Uranus' past, a large object smashed into this planet, tipping it on its side. Instead of spinning like a top on a table, Uranus rolls like a ball on its side. This extreme tilt gives the ice giant seasons, keeping each pole continually in sunlight or darkness for decades.

    Uranus has only been visited by a single spacecraft, Voyager 2, in 1986. Most of the images of this ice giant came from this mission nearly 40 years ago. A new mission to Uranus is a high priority but has not yet been solidified. However, the New Horizons spacecraft may be used to observe both ice giants in the coming years.

    Check back soon for my next post!

   

 

    

Now get outside and look up!