Saturday, June 12
Today marks the closest approach of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke to Earth, when it will come within 0.44 astronomical unit (1 astronomical unit, or AU, is the average Earth-Sun distance) of our planet. It’s currently magnitude 11 and is an early-morning object, rising around 1 A.M. local time in Aquarius, which also hosts the bright planet Jupiter. Saturn is nearby in Capricornus. A 6-inch scope under a dark sky will easily net you this fuzzball, which you can find 7.5° south of Jupiter or 7.6° east-southeast of Deneb Algedi.
You’ll want to return to this region on the 15th, when Pons-Winnecke passes close to the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293). The nebula is currently 3.6° east-southeast of the comet’s position; Pons-Winnecke will draw closer and pass less than 1° south of the Helix before sunrise on Tuesday.
The Moon passes 1.5° north of Venus at 3 A.M. EDT. By sunset, they’re roughly 8° apart with the Moon farther east, hanging 4.5° below Pollux in Gemini. Venus sits 11.6° below Castor, which glows 4.5° to Pollux’s right as the Twins sink feet first below the horizon.
Venus also reaches perihelion today — the closest point to the Sun in its orbit around our star.
Sunrise: 5:31 A.M.
Sunset: 8:29 P.M.
Moonrise: 7:06 A.M.
Moonset: 10:44 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (5%)
Sunday, June 13
The Moon passes 3° north of Mars at 4 P.M. EDT. Look west shortly after sunset to spot the pair in Cancer, with Mars a little less than 3° to the thin crescent Moon’s southwest half an hour after the Sun disappears. Mars glows at magnitude 1.8, popping out among some of the brighter stars as the sky begins to darken. Much brighter Venus — magnitude –3.9 — stands 17.5° west of the Red Planet. Venus is located in Gemini, forming the point of a deep V between Pollux (left) and Castor (right).
Because it starts out lower in the sky, Venus sets earlier (around 10 P.M. local time, depending on your location). It currently spans about 11″ and appears 93 percent lit. Mars, by contrast, is 96 percent lit and a mere 4″ across. It sets an hour later, giving you more time to study it as well as Cancer’s famous Beehive Cluster, currently about 6° east of Mars. The Red Planet will slide right through this open cluster of stars later this month.
Sunrise: 5:31 A.M.
Sunset: 8:30 P.M.
Moonrise: 8:03 A.M.
Moonset: 11:27 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (10%)
Monday, June 14
About an hour after sunset tonight, the Big Dipper is standing on the edge of its cup, handle pointing high in the air. Swing binoculars or a small telescope about 3.6° southwest of Alkaid, the last star at the tip of the handle, and you’ll land on the beautiful spiral galaxy M51, also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy or NGC 5194. It’s located in Canes Venatici the Hunting Dogs, one of Ursa Major’s many neighboring constellations.
Discovered October 13, 1773, by Charles Messier, this magnitude 8.4 spiral appears face on from our vantage point. This galaxy also brought a dance partner to the party: a smaller galaxy, which glows at magnitude 9.6, cataloged as NGC 5195 and sometimes also called M51B. These two galaxies have recently undergone a close encounter a mere few million years ago, and still present a stunning pair to behold. They are best viewed on nights with a dark sky and at times when they are near the zenith, or top of the sky. Under good conditions, observers with larger apertures can often make out hints of M51’s spiral arms.
Sunrise: 5:31 A.M.
Sunset: 8:30 P.M.
Moonrise: 9:05 A.M.
Moonset: —
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (17%)
Tuesday, June 15
Leo the Lion is headed, nose down, toward the horizon at sunset. The Moon, now a beautiful 29-percent-lit crescent, hangs near magnitude 3.5 Eta (η) Leonis, with bright Regulus just over 4° to our satellite’s south.
But north of Leo is another, smaller constellation you might not be as familiar with: Leo Minor the Lion Cub. To find this dim constellation, it’s easiest to draw a line between Merak (the star at the lower right-hand corner of the Big Dipper’s cup) and Regulus in Leo. Exactly halfway along that line is Leo Minor, the sky’s 64th-largest constellation. Its brightest star is magnitude 3.8 46 Leonis Minoris, which outshines Leo Minor’s magnitude 4.2 beta star. (There is no alpha star in this constellation!)
Leo Minor is home to several deep-sky objects, including the magnitude 11.7 edge-on galaxy NGC 3432 and the face-on spiral NGC 3344, which shines a brighter magnitude 9.9. The former you’ll need a larger telescope (8 inches or more) to see, while the latter can be spotted with large binoculars or a small telescope. The moonlight may make such targets a bit challenging tonight, so come back on a night when the Moon is farther away if you’re having trouble finding them or teasing out fine detail.
Sunrise: 5:31 A.M.
Sunset: 8:31 P.M.
Moonrise: 10:10 A.M.
Moonset: 12:04 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (25%)
Wednesday, June 16
Boötes the Herdsman is high in the south after sunset, anchored by the bright star Arcturus. But the kite-shaped constellation boasts numerous other stars worth a look, including three double stars: Kappa (κ), Iota (ι), and Pi (π) Boötis. Each is visible to the naked eye, with Kappa the brightest (magnitude 4.5) and the other two tied at roughly magnitude 4.9. Each will also appear to the naked eye as a single star, but a small telescope will change up the view.
Kappa Boötis is located about 1.8° west of Theta (θ) Boötis, which shines at magnitude 4. It lies between Theta and Alkaid, the star at the tip of the Big Dipper’s handle. With a telescope, Kappa resolves into a pair of stars just over 13″ apart. One will appear bluer than the other, which appears pearly white.
Iota Boötis lies nearby. It’s about 35′ southeast of Kappa, or 1.5° southwest of Theta. This double is much farther apart — 38″ — with one component glowing yellow-white and the other a purer white.
Pi Boötis lies in the southeastern portion of the constellation, 2.7° due north of Zeta (ζ) Boötis and 6.5° southeast of Arcturus. Pi is a close double separated by less than 6″ but is still easy to split through a 3-inch scope to reveal its contrasting blue-white and yellow-white stars.
Sunrise: 5:31 A.M.
Sunset: 8:31 P.M.
Moonrise: 11:17 A.M.
Moonset: 12:37 A.M.
Moon Phase:
Moon Phase: Waxing crescent (35%)
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