31-05-2008 June Night Sky (Article 139)

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Simon Kenny
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Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:17 pm
Location: Shannon, Co. Clare, Ireland

31-05-2008 June Night Sky (Article 139)

Post by Simon Kenny » Wed Dec 31, 2008 10:45 am

June Night Sky (Article 139)

Despite the night time been warmer in June than it is in January, most astronomers in this part of the world find it more difficult to observe the night sky at this time of the year. At the start of the month, the sky is still bright on the north western horizon at midnight and is dark between the hours of 1am and 3am, by the end of the month it never gets truly dark at all so making it difficult to see the fainter objects in the sky, even with a telescope.
One peculiar phenomena that seems to be visible only during the month of June are noctilucent clouds, these are very particular types of clouds seen between 10pm and midnight on the north western horizon in the glow of the earlier sunset, these clouds have a very translucent appearance and appear to glow making them very distinct and distinguishable from normal dark clouds. These clouds are made up by meteor debris in the upper atmosphere.
The moon this month starts off as a thin crescent on the eastern horizon, visible at 4am onwards. The new moon happens on the 4th of June, after which the moon appears as a crescent from the 5th soon after sunset. By the 10th, the moon reaches first quarter (half moon) and is easily visible in the evening sky after sunset in the southwest. Full moon occurs at 19th, low in the southern constellation of Sagittarius, it is best seen at 2am, as a full moon never rises high in the summer. The moon reaches last quarter on the 26th high in the south eastern sky in the early hours of the morning; it then plunges towards the sun over the following week as it takes on its familiar crescent shape.
Saturn is visible to the east (left) of Regulus this month, these appear as 2 bright stars towards the west soon after sunset. As the month progresses, Mars starts to move towards this duo and by of the month the 2 planets and the star form a nice bright triangle in the sunset sky in the west. On July1st, Mars and Saturn will not be so near each other in the sky again until 2022, less the 1 degree (2 full moon diameters). By the end of June, you will have to wait until approx 11pm so it will be dark enough, at which time they will be right on the western horizon making them difficult to see.
Jupiter is not well placed this year, as it is low in Sagittarius, meaning it is best seen near the southern horizon at about 2-3am. Its low altitude makes detail difficult to see through a telescope as the thicker atmosphere disrupts the view.
Venus and Mercury are not well placed this month, Venus passes behind the Sun on June 8th with Mercury is only a few degrees away so making it impossible to see them anytime this month. Remember to be extremely careful when using telescopes, binoculars or cameras while the sun is above the horizon. Next club meeting is on Wednesday 4th June at 8pm in Room 207, Mary Immaculate College.

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