SKYWATCH

June 1995

by Steve Stefanik

The planet Jupiter dominates the June night-time sky. It reached opposition (directly opposite the sun from us) on Thursday, June 1. Therefore it is the brightest object in the night sky (at magnitude -2.6) except for the moon of course. Look for it slightly to the left and higher than the bright red star Antares in the constellation Scorpio (which looks like a great big "J") to the south in evening twilight. Although it appears to be in Scorpio, it is actually in the constellation Ophiuchus but will cross the border into Scorpio by the end of the month.

Even though this year's apparition of the Jovian planet may not rival that of last year's spectacular collision with the comet Shoemaker-Levy, the mere sight of this immense gas giant is enough to thrill anyone. The colorful alternating light and dark bands, along with it's swirling white festoons and eddys, not to mention it's Great Red Spot and it's four largest "dancing" moons is more than enough to keep even the most avid skywatcher entertained in the summer months ahead.

Speaking of summer, it officially arrives when our planet reaches the solstice (the most northerly progression in it's apparent motion across the sky) at 4:34 p.m. EDT on June 21.

The only other event that even comes close to rivaling the appearance of Jupiter, is the appearance of Saturn in the early morning hours in the constellation Aquarius also in the south. Earth crossed the plane of it's rings last month so that they appear nearly on edge so that they have all but disappeared from our line of sight. It's largest moons can be seen through a small telescope passing in front of the planet and disappearing behind it however.

Mars is a mere first magnitude reddish "star" among the stars of the constellation Leo in the west as the sun sets.

Look for it near the second magnitude star Denebola in the triangle of the hind quarters of the feline.

Uranus and Neptune rise together in the east around mid-night. Both appear as dim seventh and fifth magnitude blue stars respectively in the constellation Capricorn. They brighten considerably with each passing night as they approach their July opposition.

Venus rises low on the eastern horizon about an hour before the sun rises but disappears into the glare of the sun by the end of the month.

Mercury makes a brief but poor appearance lower and to the right of Venus this month. Look for the pair planets about 4 degrees away from each other on the morning of the 19th.