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Wednesday, June 21, 2017

 

The Sky This Week - Thursday June 22 to Thursday June 29

The New Moon is Saturday, June 24. Mars and Mercury are lost in the twilight. Jupiter and the bright star Spica are nearby in the evening sky. Saturn is at opposition on the 15th, when it as biggest and brightest as seen from Earth. It is visible all night in the heart of the Milky Way. Venus climbs higher in the morning sky and is very close to the crescent Moon on the 21st.

The New Moon is Saturday, June 24. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the Earth on the 23rd.

Evening sky on Saturday June 24 looking north as seen from Adelaide at 18:57 ACST (when Jupiter is highest in the sky). Jupiter is above the horizon between the bright star Spica and the relatively bright star Porrima. Jupiter is now closer to Porrima than Spica. The inset shows the telescopic view of Jupiter at this time.

Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click to embiggen).

Jupiter is rising before dusk and is now high above the northern horizon in the early evening this week. It is in between the bright star Spica, the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo, and the relatively bright star Porrima. Jupiter is now closer to Porrima than Spica.

Opposition, when Jupiter is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, was on April the 8th. Jupiter is rising before the sun sets and is visible until the early morning. Jupiter is a good telescopic target from astronomical twilight on, and the dance of its Moons is visible even in binoculars. The following Jupiter events are in AEST.

Thu 22 Jun 2017 17:10        Viewing Resumed   - Sun Sets
Fri 23 Jun 2017 00:35   GRS: Crosses Central Meridian
Fri 23 Jun 2017 00:58   Io : Disappears into Occultation  
Fri 23 Jun 2017 01:24        Viewing Suspended - Jupiter Sets
Fri 23 Jun 2017 17:11        Viewing Resumed   - Sun Sets
Fri 23 Jun 2017 20:27   GRS: Crosses Central Meridian
Fri 23 Jun 2017 22:12   Io : Transit Begins               T
Fri 23 Jun 2017 22:48   Eur: Transit Begins               TT
Fri 23 Jun 2017 23:26   Io : Shadow Transit Begins        STT
Sat 24 Jun 2017 00:23   Io : Transit Ends                 ST
Sat 24 Jun 2017 01:19   Eur: Transit Ends                 S
Sat 24 Jun 2017 01:21        Viewing Suspended - Jupiter Sets
Sat 24 Jun 2017 17:11        Viewing Resumed   - Sun Sets
Sat 24 Jun 2017 19:26   Io : Disappears into Occultation  
Sat 24 Jun 2017 22:54   Io : Reappears from Eclipse       
Sun 25 Jun 2017 01:17        Viewing Suspended - Jupiter Sets
Sun 25 Jun 2017 17:11        Viewing Resumed   - Sun Sets
Sun 25 Jun 2017 17:24   Eur: Disappears into Occultation  T
Sun 25 Jun 2017 17:55   Io : Shadow Transit Begins        ST
Sun 25 Jun 2017 18:52   Io : Transit Ends                 S
Sun 25 Jun 2017 19:07   Gan: Transit Begins               ST
Sun 25 Jun 2017 19:53   Eur: Reappears from Occultation   ST
Sun 25 Jun 2017 19:55   Eur: Disappears into Eclipse      ST
Sun 25 Jun 2017 20:06   Io : Shadow Transit Ends          T
Sun 25 Jun 2017 21:39   Gan: Transit Ends                 
Sun 25 Jun 2017 22:06   GRS: Crosses Central Meridian
Sun 25 Jun 2017 22:18   Eur: Reappears from Eclipse       
Mon 26 Jun 2017 00:20   Gan: Shadow Transit Begins        S
Mon 26 Jun 2017 01:13        Viewing Suspended - Jupiter Sets
Mon 26 Jun 2017 17:11        Viewing Resumed   - Sun Sets
Mon 26 Jun 2017 17:23   Io : Reappears from Eclipse       
Mon 26 Jun 2017 17:57   GRS: Crosses Central Meridian
Tue 27 Jun 2017 01:10        Viewing Suspended - Jupiter Sets
Tue 27 Jun 2017 17:12        Viewing Resumed   - Sun Sets
Tue 27 Jun 2017 23:45   GRS: Crosses Central Meridian
Wed 28 Jun 2017 01:06        Viewing Suspended - Jupiter Sets
Wed 28 Jun 2017 17:12        Viewing Resumed   - Sun Sets
Wed 28 Jun 2017 19:36   GRS: Crosses Central Meridian
Thu 29 Jun 2017 01:02        Viewing Suspended - Jupiter Sets

Evening sky on Saturday June 24 looking east as seen from Adelaide at 18:43 ACST, an hour and a half after sunset. Saturn is reasonably high above the horizon.

The inset shows the telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time, an hour and a half after sunset. (click to embiggen).

Saturn was  at opposition on the 15th, when it was biggest and brightest in the sky as seen from earth. Saturn is visible all night long. Saturn is a good telescopic target from 9 pm on it is poised above the dark rifts in the Milky Way and is in a good area for binocular hunting. It continues to climb into the evening skies as the week progresses.  Saturn's rings are visible even in small telescopes and are always good to view.

The constellation of Scorpio is a good guide to locating Saturn. The distinctive curl of Scorpio is easy to see above the north-eastern horizon, locate the bright red star, Antares, and the look below that towards the horizon, the next bright object is Saturn.

Morning sky on Wednesday June 24 looking east as seen from Adelaide at 5:53 ACST (90 minutes before sunrise). Venus is dazzling and the crescent Moon is very close by. The inset shows the telescopic view of Venus at this time.


 Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (that is 90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).

Venus  climbs higher in the morning sky and is visible in telescopes as a "half-Moon". on the 21st the Crescent Moon is a finger-width from Venus.

Mercury is lost in the twilight by mid-week.

Mars is lost in the twilight.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEST, Western sky at 10 pm AEST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

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