Monday, June 21
Jupiter’s eastward progression grinds to a halt as the giant planet stands stationary at 1 A.M. EDT in the constellation Aquarius. After today, it will begin moving retrograde, or westward, against the background stars. You can find the planet early this morning in the southeastern sky, blazing at magnitude –2.6. Saturn sits in Capricornus, 19.3° to Jupiter’s west and glowing a more muted magnitude 0.3. Both are outstanding telescopic targets: Jupiter spans 44″ and is flanked by its four Galilean moons, while Saturn’s disk stretches 18″ and its rings cover a width of about 41″. The ringed planet is surrounded by an array of moons, including magnitude 8.6 Titan, nearly 3′ to Saturn’s east. The large moon will sit due south of the planet is just a few days, on the 24th.
If evening observing is more your speed, you won’t be disappointed. Tonight through the 23rd, Mars is crossing the Beehive Cluster (M44) in Cancer. Step outside about an hour after sunset to find the Red Planet roughly 13° high and shining at magnitude 1.8 amid a fuzzy smattering of blue stars. Binoculars or a telescope will net you the best view, but you’ll need to be quick, as Mars sets by 11 P.M. local time. The clearer your view of the western horizon, the longer you’ll be able to follow it down.
Mars will sit smack dab in the middle of the cluster tomorrow evening, and at the opposite edge of the grouping by the night of the 23rd.
Sunrise: 5:32 A.M.
Sunset: 8:32 P.M.
Moonrise: 5:12 P.M.
Moonset: 2:57 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous (87%)
Tuesday, June 22
Venus passes 5° south of Pollux in Gemini at 11 A.M. EDT. By sunset, they’re about 5.5° apart. About half an hour later, both should be visible: Venus is magnitude –3.9 and will appear before the magnitude 1.2 star pops out against the deepening twilight. As darkness continues to fall, magnitude 1.6 Castor will appear to the right of Pollux as Gemini sinks feet-first below the horizon. Within two days’ time, Venus will appear directly in line with these two stars, then standing 6.5° from Pollux.
Mercury is stationary tonight at 7 P.M. EDT in Taurus the Bull. It’s currently a morning object, rising as the sky brightens in anticipation of sunrise. If you want to see the solar system’s smallest, speediest planet, it rises around 4:40 A.M. local time and hangs amid only a few other bright stars in the sky as it climbs above the horizon, including Aldebaran and Capella. Through a telescope, it’s a mere 16-percent-lit crescent that spans 10″ in apparent diameter on the sky.
Sunrise: 5:32 A.M.
Sunset: 8:32 P.M.
Moonrise: 6:30 P.M.
Moonset: 3:33 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous (94%)
Wednesday, June 23
The Moon reaches perigee, the closest point to Earth in its orbit, at 5:55 A.M. EDT. At that time, our natural satellite will sit 223,666 miles (359,956 kilometers) away.
The Moon also sets around 4:15 A.M. local time, giving you a narrow window of dark sky in which to find our solar system’s most distant planet, Neptune. Located in northeastern Aquarius, the magnitude 7.8 planet is visible in binoculars or a small telescope. It sits 21° northeast of Jupiter and 5.7° northeast of magnitude 4.2 Phi (Ï•) Aquarii. Once you’ve zoomed in on its location, you’ll see the planet sits just 7′ from a magnitude 7.2 field star, making the pair appear almost like a double star. Of the two, Neptune is a bit fainter and “flatter,” its 2″-wide disk distinctly different from the more pointlike star.
Sunrise: 5:32 A.M.
Sunset: 8:33 P.M.
Moonrise: 7:47 P.M.
Moonset: 4:15 A.M.
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous (98%)
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