June 1998

by Steve Stefanik

As summer is soon to begin (June 21, at 10:03 a.m. EDT), so too the stars and constellations of the summertime Milky Way are rising. Spearheaded by the return of the birds in summer, Aquilla the eagle and Cygnus the swan rise above the northeastern horizon after the sun sets. Look for the first magnitude bright stars Altair and Deneb to locate them near the brightest star in the summertime sky, Vega in the nearby constellation Lyra. These three beacons make up the easily recognizeable asterism known as "the Summer Triangle". Bootes the kite-shaped herdsman is high overhead with its brightest golden orange star Arcturus. Leo the lion with its brightest star Regulus is now in the western sky with Virgo the maiden trailing behind. Look for her bright blue star Spica south and below Arcturus. The summertime constellations of Scorpio and Sagittarius are located to the southeast at the center of the Milky Way. The bright red star Antares marks the heart of the scorpion while the familiar "teapot" asterism is part of the constellation Sagittarius. Seen through a telescope this region of the sky is loaded with star clusters and numerous nebulae. You could be engrossed for weeks if not the entire summer!

Later at night the next constellation to follow in the zodiacal procession is Capricorn of course. Among the dim 4th and 5th magnitude stars of the seagoat you may be able to spot two planets, Uranus (magnitude 5.7) and Neptune (magnitude 7.8) with binoculars. Blue-green Uranus will be near the star Theta Capricorni and brilliant blue Neptune will be near the star Sigma Capricorni.

Jupiter rises in the constellation Pisces about and hour after midnight. There are relatively few stars in this region of the sky so the huge magnitude -2.4 gas giant will stand out as the brightest object in the nightsky (except for the moon of course). About an hour and a half later, the other planetary gas giant Saturn will rise also among the stars of Pisces. Although not as bright, the 0.4 magnitude ringed planet will be unmistakeable.

Venus rises just minutes after Saturn. The brilliant -4.0 magnitude planet starts out the month just 3.5 degrees below and to the left of Saturn but the two separate by about a degree with each passing day so that they will be separated by about 30 degrees by month’s end.

From June 17 through the 21st, the last quarter moon joins the trio of Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus. The moon will be next to Jupiter on the 17th, Saturn on the mornings of the 19th and 20th, and near Venus on the 21st.

Mercury departs the morning sky after the first week of the month but reappears in the evening sky just above the northwestern horizon during the last week of June. Look for it below and to the left of the two brightest stars of Gemini, Castor and Pollux.