Astroblog: Thursday June 15 to Thursday June 22

Monday, June 12, 2023

Thursday June 15 to Thursday June 22

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

Evening sky on Saturday, June 17 as seen from Adelaide at 23:00 ACST, Saturn is just above the eastern horizon. The inset is the telescopic view of Saturn at this time.

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

Morning sky on Thursday, June 15 as seen from Adelaide at 06:25 ACST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). Saturn is high in the sky above Jupiter and Mercury. The crescent Moon is below Jupiter. Mercury is low to 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 (60 minutes before sunrise).

Evening sky on Thursday, June 22 as seen from Adelaide at 18:42 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen). Venus, Mars and the crescent Moon form a triangle which will fit within a medium power binocular field. The inset is the telescopic view of Venus at this time.

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