Title: June Skywatch Highlights
Location: Hawaiian Islands
Date / Time: June 2009
Comments: Warm summer evenings provide excellent opportunities for Stargazing this month. Shortly after sunset, you'll find SATURN more than one-third of the way up from the southwestern horizon, shining brighter than any of the stars in Leo, the constellation which currently hosts the ringed planet. At magnitude 1.0, Saturn matches the bright star Spica, in the constellation Virgo, which lies about 40 degrees to the S.W. A telescope will reveal Saturn's glorious rings and perhaps even Titan & other Saturnian moons. June & July will be our last opportunities to view Saturn before it begins to disappear into the Sun's glare in evening twilight. JUPITER blazes in the early morning sky this month, rising from the Southeast shortly after midnight. Jupiter appears in Capricornus, & shines far brighter than any other object in this dim region of the sky. Look for Jupiter's 4 bright Galilean moons. Galileo first saw them nearly 400 years ago with a 1.5-inch telescope of lower quality than any available today. VENUS & MARS rise within 15 minutes of each other in early June. Both will be up by 4:00 AM, joining Jupiter in the predawn sky. Brilliant Venus shines at magnitude (minus) -4.4 on June 5th & appears nearly 15 degrees high in the east an hour before sunrise. Venus passes 2 degrees south of Mars on June 19th. This conjunction looks especially impressive because a crescent Moon lies nearby. Venus stands 15 degrees above the eastern horizon at 4:30 AM with Mars to its upper left, & the Moon 7 degrees above the pair. THE SOUTHERN CROSS, in the constellation Crux, is currently viewable and is quite impressive. You'll need a cloudless view of the southern horizon. In early June, Crux rises in the southeast, tipped on its left side, at around 7 PM, & is high enough above the horizon to view by 8 PM. The Roman style "cross" asterism stands fully upright, due south, at 8:30 PM. At this time look for 2 bright stars, Alpha & Beta Centauri, "pointing" to it from the east. (Best viewing around 9PM in early June, 8PM from mid-month on. Note that Hawaii is one of the few places where we can see all the way from the North Star, Polaris (Hokupa'a), to the Southern Cross, a Polynesian navigational "star line" called Ka Iwikuamo'o, "The Backbone." For a June sky map, visit Bishop Museum Planetarium www.bishopmuseum.org/planetarium (bishopmuseum.org).

Maintained by Roz Reiner - Kauai, Hawaii

 

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