Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Thursday June 20 to Thursday June 27
The Full Moon is Saturday, June 22. The Earth is at solstice on the 21st. By the weeks end Mercury is visible in the evening twilight. Saturn enters the evening sky around midnight, but is still best in the morning. On the 27th there is an occultation of Saturn low on the eastern horizon near midnight. In a telescope Saturn's famous rings are almost edge on. In the morning the lineup of planets is Saturn, Mars and Jupiter. Jupiter is between the red star Aldebaran and the Pleiades cluster.
The Full Moon is Saturday, June 22. The Earth is at solstice, when the night is longest, on the 21st.
Mercury is above the western horizon at the end of civil twilight, you may need a clear, unobstructed horizon and binoculars to see it.
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (30 minutes after sunset).
Saturn is just emerging from behind the dark limb of the Moon.
Similar views will be seen from east coast, and some southern central Australia at a similar time.Detailed times and spotters charts are at my occultation site.
Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).
Mercury returns to the evening twilight
Venus is lost in the twilight.
Mars is rising in the morning sky.
Jupiter is rising in the the morning twilight sky. Jupiter is between the red star Aldebaran and the Pleiades cluster.
Saturn climbs higher in the morning sky. Saturn is occulted by the Moon on the 27th.
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
Occultation of Saturn, Thursday, 27June 2024.
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| The Moon at 23:07pm ACST in Adelaide looking east on Thursday 27 June just as Saturn reappears. The inset shows the binocular view as Saturn reappears (click to embiggen). | The Moon at 23:47pm AEST in Brisbane looking east on Thursday 27 June just as Saturn reappears. The inset shows the binocular view as Saturn reappears (click to embiggen). | The Moon at 23:39pm AEST in Canberra looking east on Thursday 27 June just as Saturn reappears. The inset shows the binocular view as Saturn reappears (click to embiggen). |
On the evening of Thursday, June 27, between 11pm and midnight there is an occultation of Saturn. The second of three occultations seen from Australia this year. This best as a binocular and telescope event. The Moon will have just risen, so this will be difficult for telescopes.
The path of the occultation, taken from the the IOTA site
This occultation is visible from the eastern states from Cairns to
Melbourne. and part of central Australia.
In the rest of Australia the Moon and Saturn will be very close when the Moon rises.
Start watching about half an hour beforehand to get set up and familiar with the sky. Saturn will disappear behind the bright limb of the Moon very close to the horizon. In Cairns, Melbourne and Adelaide the Moon will rise with Saturn behind the Moon, you will need a level, unobscured horizon to see the occultation.
Again, as the Moon is close to the horizon when ingress occurs it will be difficult to get telescopes to point that low, and binoculars will be required. By the time Saturn reappears the Moon will be higher (around 15°) so telescopes may be successful. As Saturn reappears from behind the dark limb of the moon this should be quite dramatic.
Imaging Saturn and the Moon together will be a challenge, due to the differences in brightness, again however, as Saturn appears from behind the dark limb, some over exposure of the Moon will not really affect Saturn. You will need a high ISO (3200 to 1600) to have a short enough exposure time to stop Saturn from trailing. Try practicing the night or morning before to get an idea of your cameras/mobile phones performance. You will need a tripod for your camera or binoculars, and possibly some wy to attach the camera to binoculars or telescope (dedicated amateur astronomers will already have this kit). See this post for some examples.
| Place | Disappears Bright Limb | Reappears Dark Limb |
| Adelaide ACST | - | 23:07 |
| Brisbane AEST | 22:50 | 23:47 |
| Carins AEST | - | 23:08 |
| Canberra AEST | 22:58 | 23:39 |
| Darwin ACST | - | - |
| Hobart AEST | - | - |
| Melbourne AEST | - | 23:39 |
| Perth AWST | - | - |
| Sydney AEST | 22:56 | 23:41 |
| Rockhampton AEST | 22:49 | 23:46 |
| Townsville AEST | 22:51 | 23:44 |
More cities in Australia and New Zealand can be found at the IOTA site (UT times only).
Labels: binoculars, Moon, Occultation, Saturn, telescope
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
Thursday June 13 to Thursday June 20
The First Quarter Moon is Friday, June 14. Comet 12P Pons-Brooks is no longer visible in binoculars. Saturn enters the evening sky around midnight, but is still best in the morning. In a telescope Saturn's famous rings are almost edge on. In the morning the lineup of planets is Saturn, Mars and Jupiter. with Jupiter low on the horizon.
The First Quarter Moon is Friday, June 14. The moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, at this time.
The constellation of Scorpius is now clearly visible above the eastern horizon. If your skies are dark enough, you can see the indigenous dark constellation of the Emu.
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).
Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).
Mercury is lost in the twilight
Venus is lost in the twilight.
Mars is rising in the morning sky.
Jupiter is low the the morning twilight sky.
Saturn climbs higher in the morning sky.
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
Tuesday, June 04, 2024
Thursday June 6 to Thursday June 13
The New Moon is Thursday, June 6. Comet 12P Pons-Brooks is fading, this will be the last week to view it in binoculars as it moves past Sirius in Canis Major. In the morning the lineup of planets is now Saturn, Mars and Jupiter as Mercury is lost in the twilight.
The New Moon is Thursday, June 6.
The comet has faded to magnitude 7, and you need strong binoculars or a telescope to see it. Over the week the comet will climb higher into darker skies fading as it goes. Updated spotters charts are here.
Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).
Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).
Mercury is lost in the morning twilight
Venus is lost in the morning twilight.
Mars is rising in the morning sky.
Jupiter is low the the morning twilight sky.
Saturn climbs higher in the morning sky.
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
Monday, June 03, 2024
An over hyped "Parade of Planets" 3-5 June
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| Morning sky on Monday, June 3 as seen from Adelaide at 06:18 ACST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The crescent Moon, Saturn, Mars and Mercury make an attractive lineup. The Moon is close to Mars. Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time. | Morning sky on Monday, June 3 as seen from Adelaide at 06:18 ACST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The planets positions are labeled, including the ones not visible to the unaided eye. |
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| Morning sky on Monday, June 3 as seen from Adelaide at 06:48 ACST, (30 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The crescent Moon, Saturn, Mars and Mercury make an attractive lineup. Jupiter and mercury are deep in the twilight. | Morning sky on Monday, June 3 as seen from Adelaide at 06:48 ACST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The planets positions are labeled, including the ones not visible to the unaided eye. |
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| Morning sky on Wednesday, June 5 as seen from Adelaide at 06:18 ACST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The crescent Moon, is close to Jupiter and Mercury deep in the twilight. | Morning sky on Wednesday, June 5 as seen from Adelaide at 06:18 ACST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The planets positions are labeled, including the ones not visible to the unaided eye. |
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| Morning sky on Wednesday, June 5 as seen from Adelaide at 06:48 ACST, (30 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The crescent Moon, is close to Jupiter and Mercurydeep in the twilight. | Morning sky on Wednesday, June 5 as seen from Adelaide at 06:48 ACST, (30 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The planets positions are labeled, including the ones not visible to the unaided eye. |
You may have see some rather breathless statements on the internet about the "planetary Parade" coming up on 3 June. With statements such as "stunning alignment" and "solar spectacle", this vastly overplays what you will see. Yes, there will be 6 planets in a line in the morning skies from 3-5 June. But
Uranus and Neptune are not visible to the
unaided eye. On the 3rd Mercury will be difficult to see as it is low in the twilight and Jupiter is too deep in the twilight to be readily seen. You will need a clear, unobstructed horizon to see Jupiter and Mercury as they are very low in the twilight.
The crescent Moon is near Mercury an Jupiter deep in the twilight. You may need binoculars to see Jupiter and Mercury (Binoculars will make for much better viewing even if you can see them). By the time Jupiter and Mercury have risen sufficiently to see Saturn and mars will be very difficult to see.
Nonetheless the early morning effort is worthwhile.
Labels: Jupiter, lineup, Mars, Mecury, Moon, Saturn
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