Astroblog: Thursday June 22 to Thursday June 29

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Thursday June 22 to Thursday June 29

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.

Evening sky on Saturday, June 24 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 Saturday, June 24 as seen from Adelaide at 05:53 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).

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 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