The June Sky

Paul Curtin


Special events this month: On 25 June the moon will pass in front of Ceres for observers in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Northern India and Central Asia. 

On 26 June a partial lunar eclipse will be visible in the Americas, Eastern Asia, and the Pacific.

In the north, June is a time of transition. The rich faint galaxy clusters are gone, but the Milky Way is not yet in sight. There are a number of striking constellations containing some lovely multiple stars but no more than one easy deep sky object. Southern skies have more to offer, and south of Libra we find an increasing number of open clusters, globular clusters, and planetary nebulae.

Follow the curve of the Big Dipper's handle southward to Arcturus. This dazzling star sits at the base of the kite-shaped constellation Bootes. Epsilon, pi, iota, kappa, ksi and mu are multiple.  There are some faint galaxies here, but the finest object is the globular cluster NGC 5466, west of rho.

East of Bootes is the semicircle of stars that make up Corona Borealis. Zeta and sigma are multiple. The galaxy cluster Abell 2065 requires dark skies and large telescopes. 

Look for the line of stars running southwards from Corona Borealis. This is Serpens Caput, the western section of the constellation Serpens, divided in two by Ophiuchus. M5 (NGC 5904) is a globular cluster north of 5. 

South Serpens Caput is the diamond shape of Libra. Look for the globular cluster NGC 5897 not far from iota.

It is south of Libra that things begin to get interesting.  The forms become less distinct and the stars somewhat dimmer, but the choice of telescopic objects increases greatly. Lupus is made up of two winding strings of stars east of Centaurus. The Milky Way here includes the dark nebula Barnard 228, south and west of chi. Kappa, mu, ksi, eta, and pi are multiple. NGC 5824, NGC 5927 and NGC 5986 are nice globular clusters.

Circinus is the thin wedge of a triangle composed of alpha, beta, and gamma south of Lupus. Alpha and gamma are double. NGC 5288, NGC 5715, and NGC 5823 are open clusters. NGC 5315 is a nice planetary. 

Look for the tiny tadpole shape of Apus south of Circinus. There is a sprinkling of objects here. The best sights for small telescopes are the globulars IC 4499 and NGC 6101.


Planets in June

Mercury is in the morning sky. 

Venus is in the evening sky. Look for it near the crescent moon on the 15th. 

Mars is in the evening sky in Leo. 

Jupiter is in the morning sky. 

Saturn is in the evening sky. 

Uranus is near Jupiter on the 6th.

Neptune is in the morning sky, hovering between Aquarius and Capricorn.


Bibliography 

Burnham, Robert Jr., Burnham's Celestial Handbook, New York: Dover, 1978.

Cooper, I., Kay, J., Kepple, G. R., The Night Sky Observers Guide, Volume 3, Richmond, Virginia, Willman-Bell, 2008.

Jones, K. G. (ed.), The Webb Society Deep-Sky Observers Guide (Volume 4 Galaxies), Hillside, NJ:  Enslow Publishers, 1981. 

Kelly, P. (ed.), Observers Handbook 2010, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009. 
 
Kepple, G. R., Sanner, G. W., The Night Sky Observers Guide, Richmond, Virginia: Willman-Bell, 1999.

Tirion, W., Rappaport, B., Remaklus, W., Uranometria Deep Sky Atlas, Richmond, Virginia: Willman-Bell, 2000.

Webb, T. W., Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes. New York: Dover, 1962. 

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The Citizen Scientist (04 June 2010).