June 1996

by Steve Stefanik

The month of June began with the full "strawberry" moon. However, there will be two full moons this month. Another will occur on the 30th. This happens once every 2.72 years or so or once "in a blue moon". I suppose the second full moon in June must be called the "blue strawberry" moon!

Summer officially arrives on the 20th at 10:24 p.m. Eastern Daylight Savings time when the sun reaches the solstice (the most northerly point on the eastern and western horizons) and becomes stationary before beginning its annual trek southward once again.

You may be able to catch a glimpse of the planet Venus low above the northwestern horizon before it disappears behind the sun on the 10th of this month. It will reappear in the east as the "morning star" the last two weeks of the month.

The planet Jupiter rises around 11:00 p.m. in the constellation Sagittarius. Look toward the southeastern horizon just above the treetops to find this easy bright -2.7 magnitude object. It will reach opposition (directly opposite the sun from Earth) next month in July 4th.

Uranus and Neptune follow Jupiter. They are still binocular objects at +5.7 and +7.9 magnitude respectively but will become visible with the naked eye when they reach opposition next month.

Saturn rises a couple of hours after midnight above the southeastern horizon in the constellation Capricorn below the "Great Square" of Pegasus the mythological flying horse. The rings will once again be visible through a telescope after being on edge for most of last year.

The last two planets visible, Mars and Mercury, rise about an hour before sunrise in the northeast. Mars will be the higher of the pair and considerably redder in color. Look for them above the brilliant beacon of Venus on the morning of the 23rd.

As the springtime stars and constellations of Gemini, Leo, and Virgo set in the west the summertime stars and constellations of Hercules, Bootes, and Corona Borealis are directly overhead. Ophiuchus, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Lyra, Cygnus, and Aquilla are rising higher and higher with each passing night. It won’t be long before the "summer triangle" marked by the bright stars of Vega, Deneb, and Altair will be directly overhead at mid-summer.