* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: June 2010

Blobrana · L

Just before Mars does pair up with Venus and Saturn, the Red Planet will pass within one degree of Leo's brightest star, Regulus, this weekend.
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Blobrana · L

On June 15, look for Venus, Mars, Saturn and the waxing crescent moon congregating in the west. Also on Tuesday, Mars is just 5 degrees west of Regulus, the heart of Leo. Through June, the god of war moves through Leo, passing Regulus within 1 degree on June 7.
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Blobrana · L

In the waning days of spring, we look forward to some summer planetary folk dancing: Saturn, Mars and Venus form a trio of ever-changing configuration.
These planets spend the month of June getting close. In July and August, the planets change formation radically. As dusk falls now, find the ringed planet Saturn very high in the south-southwest, Mars hangs lower to the west and Venus -- in the west -- stays closest to the horizon. Venus, as usual, remains effervescent at a negative fourth magnitude (very bright) throughout the month. Saturn and Mars are substantially dimmer than Venus, as both planets are first magnitude.
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Blobrana · L

During the evening hours of June, three planets form an imaginary line in the western sky.
As evening twilight darkens, look high in the western sky to find the planet Venus, shining brilliantly at a magnitude of -4.0. Venus is the first planet on the imaginary line. On the evening of June 14, find a thin crescent Moon just below Venus.
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Blobrana · L

Residents will see a one-hour long partial lunar eclipse on June 26, when nearly half the moon will be plunged into the earth's shadow.
The moon will enter the earth's shadow at 6:16 pm and when it rises at 7pm, people will see a dim moon with part of it missing as the earth blocks the sunlight on its surface.
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Blobrana · L

Mars is now visible in the May sky. On June 5 and 6, it will be visible in the constellation Leo, about one degree from the star Regulus, said the astronomer. He said both appear to be the same size to the naked eye, but Mars has an orange, yellow glow to it, while Regulus is a blue, whitish colour.
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Blobrana · L

Highlights

The Solstice on June 21st (11:28 UT) marks the official start of summer. It is the longest day for us in the northern hemisphere, and marks the celtic festival of Middansumor (AErra Liða)

The Summer Triangle -- Vega, Deneb, and Altair -- holds the central position, high in the south. The scorpion sits low to the south and slightly west. Directly to the arachnid's east is Sagittarius, the Archer, and between the two lies the direction toward the Milky Way galaxy's centre. The ribbon of soft light that delineates our galaxy flows up from the south, through the Triangle, and then cascades toward the northern horizon.

Notable Messier objects

M13 in the constellation Hercules, is one of the largest of over 100 globular clusters in our Galaxy. Located about 25,000 light-years away, it contains about half a million stars packed into a space only a few tens of light years in diameter. Globular clusters contain some of the oldest stars in the Universe.
M56 Also in the constellation of Lyra we find our first globular cluster of the night. In a telescope look for a small round ball of light, slightly brighter in the centre. This is a difficult binocular object appearing as a small fuzzy patch.
M27 Also known as the Dumbbell nebula, the largest planetary nebula in the Messier Catalogue, M27 lies in the constellation Vulpecula. Fairly easy to see in binoculars as a small hazy patch. In small to medium scopes it appears as a rectangular patch of light. In large scopes it may even appear round in shape with a bright rectangular, or dumbbell shaped core.

Blobrana · L

June has two main meteor showers, the Arietids and the June Bootids.
Unfortunatly, the Arietids are during the daylight hours.
The Earth will pass through a stream of dusty debris. Thought no one is sure where the Arietidsdust comes from, although some suspect its debris from the sungrazing asteroid 1566 Icarus. Most Arietid meteors are invisible because the Sun is up when the shower is most intense.

Shower	Activity Period	Maximum	Radiant		Velocity	ZHR
		Date	R.A.	Dec.	km/s
June Scutids		3rd June
May-Librids		4th June	16.5h	-22.8°	12.2	4.2
June Lyrdis	June 1-21	5th June	17.3h	40.0 °	37.2	7
Arietids 12h (daylight)	June 2 - 14	8th June	20.9h	57.8°	12.4	52.7
Pi Puppids		16th June	7.5h	-15.0°	24.8	25
Northern May Ophiuchids	17th June	17th June	18.5h	4.3 °	10
June Bootids	June 22-July 2	27th June	224°	+48°	18

June Bootids

June 28 June Bootids meteor shower at peak (ZHR=var)

Active:	June 22 July 2
Maximum:	June 27; 20h00m UT ( = 95°7)
ZHR =	variable - 0100+
Radiant:	= 224°; = +48°
r =	2.2
v =	18 km/s

This shower is currently active during June 27 to July 5 and possesses a maximum of activity that falls on the 28th.
The June Bootids have an hourly rate between 3 and 100. The stream is noted for an especially strong display in 1916, and good displays in 1921 and 1927.
The meteors are primarily faint, with an average magnitude near 5, however, bright meteors do occur regularly.

At maximum the radiant is located at RA=233.7 deg, Dec=+52.2 deg.