Astroblog

The Full Moon is Monday, July 3. Saturn is now rising around just before 10 pm local time and is close to the moon on the 6th. Jupiter is prominent in the morning sky. Venus is prominent from the evening twilight to early evening, is closest to Mars on the 1st and remains close for the rest of the week. Venus and Mars are both coming close to the bright star Regulus.

The Full Moon is Monday, July 3.The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to the Earth, on the 5th.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time.

 Morning sky on Saturday, July 1 as seen from Adelaide at 05:54 ACST, (90 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Jupiter is above the horizon near the Hyades and Pleiades. The inset is the telescopic view of Jupiter at this time. 

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes before sunrise).

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset). 

Whole sky on Saturday, July 14 as seen from Adelaide at 18:45 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). Mars is visible above the north western horizon and Venus is just below.

Sirius is still prominent low in the western sky. Scorpius is readily visible in in the east. with the waxing Moon near the bright star Antares.

Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are another wealth of binocular objects to discover. With the Moon waxing it will be harder to see them.

   

 Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

 

Mercury is lost in the morning twilight.

Venus climbs still higher in the twilight coming closer to Mars. Venus is closest to Mars on the 1st and remains close for the rest of the week. Venus and Mars are both coming close to the bright star Regulus.

Mars and Venus come closer. Venus is closest to Mars on the 1st and remains close for the rest of the week. Venus and Mars are both coming close to the bright star Regulus.

Jupiter is prominent in the morning sky.

Saturn climbs higher in the morning skies and is rising just before 10 pm local time.Saturn is close to the Moon on the 6th.

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.


 

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

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/

Labels: weekly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 10:24 pm 0 comments

The First Quarter Moon is Monday, June 26. Earth is at Solstice, when the night is longest, on the 22nd. Saturn is now rising around 10 pm local time. Jupiter is prominent in the morning sky and Mercury is lost to view. Venus is prominent from the evening twilight to early evening and comes closer to Mars. On the 22nd the crescent Moon, Venus and Mars make a triangle and on the 23rd the trio make a line.

The First Quarter Moon is Monday, June 26.   Earth is at Solstice, when the night is longest, on the 22nd. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the earth, on the 23rd.  

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes before sunrise).

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset). 

Whole sky on Saturday, June 24 as seen from Adelaide at 18:43 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). Mars is visible above the north western horizon and Venus is just below.

Orion the Hunter, is setting on the western horizon while Sirius is still prominent low in the western sky. Scorpius is readily visible in in the east.

Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are another wealth of binocular objects to discover. With the Moon waxing this is still an excellent time to observe them.

   

 Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

 

Mercury is lost in the morning twilight.

Venus climbs still higher in the twilight coming closer to Mars. On the 22nd the crescent Moon, Venus and Mars make a triangle and on the 23rd the trio make a line.

Mars and Venus come closer. On the 22nd the crescent Moon, Venus and Mars make a triangle and on the 23rd the trio make a line.

Jupiter is prominent in the morning sky.

Saturn climbs higher in the morning skies and is rising around 10 pm local time.

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.


 

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

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/

Labels: weekly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 12:48 am 0 comments

The New Moon is Sunday, June 18. Earth is at Solstice on the 22nd. Saturn is now rising around 11 pm local time and is high in the morning sky above Jupiter. On the 14th the Moon is just above Jupiter and on the 15th just below. Venus is prominent from the evening twilight to early evening and comes closer to Mars. On the 21st the crescent Moon, Venus and Mars make a line, and on the 22nd the trio make a triangle.

The New Moon is Sunday, June 18.  Earth is at Solstice, when the night is longest, on the 22nd

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset). 

Whole sky on Saturday, June 17 as seen from Adelaide at 18:42 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). Mars is visible above the north western horizon and Venus is just below.

Orion the Hunter, is setting on the western horizon while Sirius is still prominent low in the western sky. Scorpius is readily visible in in the east.

Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are another wealth of binocular objects to discover. With the Moon being new this is an excellent time to observe them.

   

 Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

 

Mercury is heading towards the horizon in the morning twilight, and is below Jupiter.  As the week goes on Mercury leaves Jupiter behind and is lost in the morning twilight by the end of the week.

Venus climbs still higher in the twilight coming closer to Mars. On the 21st the crescent Moon, Venus and mars make a line, and on the 22nd the trio make a triangle.

Mars and Venus come closer. On the 21st the crescent Moon, Venus and mars make a line, and on the 22nd the trio make a triangle.

Jupiter is prominent in the morning sky, with Mercury below it. As the week goes on Jupiter climbs higher in the morning twilight leaving Mercury behind. On the 15th the thin crescent Moon is below Jupiter.

Saturn climbs higher in the morning skies and is rising around 11 pm local time.

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.


 

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

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/

Labels: weekly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 10:49 pm 0 comments

The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday, June 11. Saturn is now rising just after local midnight and is high in the morning sky above the pair of Jupiter and Mercury. On the 10th waning Moon is close to Saturn, on the 14th the crescent moon is close to Jupiter. Venus is prominent from the evening twilight to early evening and comes closer to Mars. On June 13-14 Venus is on the outskirts of the Beehive open cluster.  

The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday, June 11. 

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes before sunrise).

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise). 

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).  

Whole sky on Saturday, June 10 as seen from Adelaide at 18:41 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). Mars is visible above the north western horizon and Venus is just below.

Orion the Hunter, is setting on the western horizon while Sirius is still prominent low in the western sky. Scorpius is rising in the east.

Between the bright star Canopus and the Southern Cross are another wealth of binocular objects to discover. However the Moons light is washing them out.

   

 Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

 

Mercury is heading towards the horizon in the morning twilight, and is below Jupiter.  As the week goes on Mercury leaves Jupiter behind in the morning twilight.

Venus climbs still higher in the twilight coming closer to Mars. On the 13th-14th Venus is on the outskirts of the Beehive open cluster.

Mars and Venus come closer.

Jupiter is prominent in the morning sky, with Mercury below it. As the week goes on Jupiter climbs higher in the morning twilight leaving Mercury behind. On the 14th the thin crescent Moon is close to Jupiter.

Saturn climbs higher in the morning skies and is rising just after local midnight. On the 10th the waning Moon is close to Saturn. 

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.


 

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

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/

Labels: weekly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 11:56 pm 0 comments

Labels: COVID-19, Science Blogging, science matters

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 7:17 am 0 comments

The June edition of Southern Skywatch is now up.  

The planetary action is now now mostly in the morning skies, although Venus and Mars remain prominent and bright in the evening skies and have some nice encounter with the Beehive cluster. The Moon occults Delta Scorpii. Mercury is prominent in the morning twilight below Jupiter at the begining of this month but will be lost to view from mid month. Saturn climbs higher in the morning sky and is now rising before midnight, as Jupiter also climbs higher in the morning sky.

June 1-3; Mars crosses the Beehive cluster. June 3; the bright star delta Scorpius in the head of the scorpion is occulted by the Moon in the early evening just on Nautical twilight. June 4; Full Moon. June 7; Moon at perigee. June 10; the waning moon near Saturn in the morning twilight. June 11; Last Quarter Moon. June 13-14, Venus close to the Beehive cluster. June 14; the waning Moon close to Jupiter. June 18; New Moon. June 21; the crescent Moon forms a line with Venus and Mars. June 22; the crescent Moon is close to Venus in the evening forming a triangle with Mars. June 22; the Earth is at Solstice. June 23; the crescent Moon forms a line with Mars and Venus. June 23; apogee Moon. June 26; First Quarter Moon.

Mercury is still prominent in the morning sky early in the month. It is easily visible above the eastern horizon an hour before sunrise, below Jupiter. As the month wears on Mercury heads towards the horizon and is lost in the twilight.

  Venus continues to climb higher in the evening sky this month and now is easily visible from shortly until over an hour after astronomical twilight when the sky is fully dark. Venus is at its greatest distance from the Sun on the 4th but remains high in the evening sky for the rest of the month. Venus also increases in brilliance and goes from a half moon shape to a clear crescent shape in telescopes.

Venus has two notable close encounters this month: From the 13th to 14th, Venus skims past the open cluster M44, the beehive cluster, providing an excellent sight in binoculars.

Venus comes closer to Mars, but never quite catches up to it. On the 22nd, Venus Mars and the crescent moon form an attractive triangle. On the 21st and 23rd the trio form a line. 

Earth is at Solstice on the Thursday 22nd, when the day is shortest.

Mars although well past opposition, is still easily visible It passes through Cancer and enters Leo late in the Month. On the 1st, Mars can be found on the outskirts of the Beehive cluster M44. And on the 2nd and 3rd Mars is in the heart of the beehive, a great binocular and telescope vista (also good in dark sky locations)

On the 22nd, Venus Mars and the crescent moon form an attractive triangle.

Jupiter climbs higher in the morning sky, at the beginning of the month bright Mercury is below it, but Mercury is less prominent as the month progresses. On the 14th Jupiter will be 5 degrees from the waning crescent moon.

Labels: southern skywatch

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 7:18 am 0 comments