What’s Up in the Night Sky? June 2015

Fred Barrett | Jun 04, 2015

It’s that time of year again. It is the best time for observing spectacular constellations and deep space objects in the sky but, in my opinion, has the worst conditions for roaming the night sky. This time of year astronomical twilight occurs after 9:30 or so at night and that means it’s pretty late by the time the sky is dark enough to observe.

And then there are the insect invaders. What’s an observer to do? Cover up (duh!). Use bug spray but be very careful. Some sprays will melt the non-metallic materials that cover various parts of your binoculars and telescopes. Avoid using spray around your eyes, where you will be looking through your eyepieces and on your hands, which you will be using to touch and adjust your equipment.

Properly prepared, it is the most beautiful time of year for observing. I never miss it and usually make a beeline for the centre of our galaxy which is above the “teapot” asterism in Sagittarius. There are wonderful nebula and star clusters in that part of the sky. Of course, the spectacular swath of the Milky Way passes through this area as it courses high overhead from the northern horizon to the southern horizon. As I said last month, it can’t get any better than that! Don’t forget to search out the summer triangle of three stars that I have mentioned in previous columns. Sometimes it’s fun just to drift from place to place to look for curious and unusual formations of stars and nebula. There’s so much up there that you never know what you might come across!

The Full Moon this month is called the Full Strawberry Moon. Berry season is upon us and I can’t think of anything better to have before I go out to observe than a big mess of strawberry short cake!

On the 6th Venus reaches its greatest elongation from the Sun. Its greatest elongation occurs twice a year when it passes the two points in its orbit where it appears to have maximum separation from the Sun. When it's on the east leg of its orbit around the Sun, Venus rises and sets just after the Sun in the evening. When it is on its west leg, it rises and sets before the Sun and is visible in the morning. Although it is a planet, it is often called the morning or evening star.

On June 10 Venus is about 2.5 degrees to the lower right of the huge Beehive star cluster, M44. By the 13th, it is above and within one degree of M44. It’s a great opportunity to easily find and have a good look at this beautiful star cluster. It is a wonderful view in binoculars and can even be seen by eye as a smoke like fuzziness in the sky. It’s about the size of a dime held at arm’s length.

A thin crescent Moon is below Jupiter and Venus on the 19th and 20th.

Summer Solstice occurs at 12:38 pm EDT on June 21. It marks the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere and winter in the southern hemisphere. For our latitude of 45 degrees north, the Sun will rise about 5:10 am and set around 8:53 pm. The exact time depends on your northern latitude.

Also on the 21st, look for a waxing crescent Moon about five degrees left of bright Regulus. Regulus is at the bottom right of the constellation Leo. You can find Jupiter and Venus to the Moon’s lower right.

On the 25th, Venus is three degrees to the lower right of Jupiter. By the 28th, Venus has closed in to within one degree of Jupiter. On June 30th, Venus is just below Jupiter and almost touching it!

The almost full, gibbous waxing Moon is about two degrees north of Saturn on June 28.

This month and next month, Saturn is a wonderful sight not to be missed. It is in the southeast in early evening and transits the south in late evening. It was in opposition (closest to Earth) on May 22. Its rings are broad and highly visible in a modest telescope and are tilted at an extraordinary 24 degrees from edgewise.

You may contact Fred Garrett through this paper or email to 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..