Monday, May 31
By about 2 A.M. local time, the Moon and Saturn sit 5.5° apart in Capricornus the Sea Goat. The magnitude 0.4 ringed planet is less than 1° from 4th-magnitude Theta (θ) Capricorni.
Zoom in on Saturn with a telescope to see its breathtaking ring system, which stretches about 40′ across and will grow to 42′ by the end of the month. The planet’s largest and brightest moon, magnitude 8.6 Titan, sits northwest of the planet this morning, west of a magnitude 7.4 field star. The closer to sunrise you can view Saturn and its moons, the better — this gives them time to climb higher in the sky. However, the brightening twilight will put a stop to the best viewing conditions, and you should always stop using any telescope or binoculars at least several minutes before the Sun is set to peek over the horizon.
Jupiter sits 18° east of Saturn, just over the border in Aquarius the Water-bearer. We’ll return tomorrow morning to take in the giant planet as the Moon skims to its south.
Sunrise: 5:34 A.M.
Sunset: 8:22 P.M.
Moonrise: 12:55 A.M.
Moonset: 10: 51 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (67%)
Tuesday, June 1
The Moon passes 5° south of magnitude –2.4 Jupiter at 5 A.M. EDT. The largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter currently spans 41″ and presents an excellent telescope target.
Around 3 A.M. EDT this morning, it’s flanked by all four Galilean moons: Io (closest) and Europa to the east, and Callisto (closest) and Ganymede to the west. If you take a look earlier, you may catch Callisto emerging from the planet’s dark shadow at 2:27 A.M. EDT. Two hours later, at 4:42 A.M. EDT, Ganymede enters that same shadow, its light appearing to simply go out. And observers in the western U.S. may catch Io’s shadow slipping onto the planet’s cloud tops at 3:25 A.M. PDT. The moon follows its shadow onto the disk a little over an hour later.
Our view of Jupiter will only improve as the month progresses, so we’ll make sure to check back in regularly with this region of the sky.
Sunrise: 5:33 A.M.
Sunset: 8:23 P.M.
Moonrise: 1:30 A.M.
Moonset: 11:59 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (56%)
Wednesday, June 2
Last Quarter Moon occurs at 3:24 A.M. EDT. At that time, our satellite is rising in the east and is roughly level with Neptune, currently 11.8° to its southeast. Of course, the solar system’s most distant planet is too faint to spot with the naked eye (magnitude 7.8) but lies within reach of binoculars. This morning, Neptune is less than 3′ southwest of a slightly brighter magnitude 7 field star in Aquarius. The pair will appear almost like a double star all month, although the dimmer planet will also feature a “flatter,” bluish disk that looks less starlike than its true stellar companion. If you have trouble spotting these targets so close to the horizon, give them an hour or so to climb a bit higher before trying again. (Alternatively, simply sleep in a bit later before getting up to view them!)
The Moon will pass 4° south of Neptune at 9 P.M. EDT later today, when both are below the horizon. Mars also passes 5° south of Pollux in Gemini at 10 A.M. EDT this morning — again, both are not visible at the time.
Sunrise: 5:33 A.M.
Sunset: 8:24 P.M.
Moonrise: 1:59 A.M.
Moonset: 1:03 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (46%)
Thursday, June 3
The planet Venus is having a busy week. Tonight, it sits just 30′ west of 5th-magnitude open cluster M35 near the feet of Gemini. As usual, you’ll want to catch the scene soon after sunset, looking toward the bright planet with binoculars or a telescope as the sky grows dark. M35 spans about 28′ and glows with a total magnitude of 5.3 — technically bright enough to spot with the naked eye, although its current position means it will likely set before the sky can darken enough for the cluster to stand out enough without optics. Particularly astute or experienced observers may even pick up NGC 2158, a fainter, more compact cluster of stars 15′ southwest of larger M35.
As twilight falls, other bright stars in this region will begin to pop out: Castor, Pollux, Procyon, and Capella. Mars is now nearly 6° southeast of Pollux and about 23.5° east of Venus.
Sunrise: 5:33 A.M.
Sunset: 8:24 P.M.
Moonrise: 2:24 A.M.
Moonset: 2:05 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (36%)
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