What’s Up in the Night Sky? June 2014

Fred Barrett | Jun 04, 2014

It’s that time of year when some of the most spectacular and observable objects can be found in the night sky. But there’s a price to pay. The stars don’t come out until close to 10 p.m. You have to expect to stay up late if you go out to tour our dark skies.

When viewed around midnight in June, the Milky Way stretches high in the east, arching from the southern to the northern horizon. It will be prominent and high in the sky through to October. It contains a large number of the most spectacular constellations observable in the northern hemisphere. Starting in the south near the horizon, we can see the constellation Sagittarius, which contains the asterism affectionately called the “Teapot” because it looks just like a teapot. An asterism is an arrangement of stars in a constellation that looks like an everyday object. An example would be the Big Dipper. Just off the teapot’s spout is the physical centre of our galaxy. Around it, and especially above its lid, can be found some of the most beautiful star clusters in the sky and they are easily viewable with binoculars. If you have a modest telescope and a good star chart, many evenings of enjoyment can be found in that area. Those of you with a smart phone can download a broad range of applications (Apps) to guide you through the sky.

Moving up from the south, we find Aquila (Latin for eagle), with its very bright star Altair. Next up and roughly overhead is Cygnus (the Swan) with its bright star Deneb at its tail. There are many deep sky objects (DSOs) through and around Cygnus that are more than worthy to find and view. Looking to the west of Cygnus we find Lyra (the Lyre or Harp). It’s a small constellation but with a very noticeable star, Vega, at its top. It was also called in olden days, the Weaver, because its shape resembled a yarn spinner.

There’s a method to my mentioning the three bright stars of summer. Altair and Deneb and Vega are known as the Summer Triangle. As we dip down to the northern horizon, we bump into the W (or M) of Cassiopeia. There are some lovely galaxies around it. Farther down just north of Cassiopeia is the constellation Perseus. It has a V shape with the V pointing south towards Cassiopeia. Between these two constellations we find what is called the Double Cluster. It is spectacular and easily seen in binoculars. Stay tuned as I point out more DSOs in this column later in the summer or alternately, get your Glass out (fancy slang for binoculars and telescopes) and adventure into the sky to see what you can hunt down and discover on your own.

In the west northwest and soon after sunset in early June, Jupiter is very bright alongside the constellation Gemini. It will set about three hours after sunset in early June and soon after sunset by the end of the month. Mercury is on the other side of Gemini and very faint down near the horizon and to the right – a challenge. Mars can be found in the south about 45 degrees above the horizon (4½ fist widths) about an hour after sunset on the 7th. It will be a little above the Moon and on its right. On the 10th in the south southeast soon after sunset, Saturn will be above and to the right of the Moon. Throughout June it can be found sitting above the tail of Scorpius. The rings will be quite a sight for the remainder of the month.

Summer Solstice occurs at 6:51 a.m. EDT on June 21 and is the longest day of the year. It marks the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere and winter in the southern hemisphere. On that day the Sun will rise about 5:10 a.m. and set around 8:53 p.m. The exact time depends on your northern latitude. We are roughly 45 degrees north.

The Full Moon occurring on the 13th is called the Full Strawberry Moon. The snow seems to have left only a few days ago and we’re already thinking about strawberries!? It also is named the Rose Moon. The New Moon is on the 27th. At sunrise on the 24th, the waning crescent moon is on the right of Venus. The open star cluster, the Pleiades, is to the upper left of Venus. Looking west soon after sunset on the 29th, the waxing new Moon sits to the left of bright Jupiter.

I sat outside on May 23rd & 24th from 11:30 p.m. until 3:50 a.m. waiting for the much talked about and hyped new meteor shower to arrive –the Camelopardalids. It was a dud. I saw three meteors and one of them wasn’t even a Camelopardalid. Well, better luck next time. It was a very beautiful night with the Milky Way spread clearly across the sky and a fine consolation prize for the lack of meteors.

If you have questions or suggestions, Fred Barrett may be contacted at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Beginner’s Observer’s Guide by Leo Enright is available at the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy or by contacting the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada www.rasc.ca/publications, subscriptions for our very own excellent Canadian astronomy magazine, Sky News, are also available from RASC..