Sky Report: June 19 – 25
The axis of the earth always points in the same direction — toward the North Star – as the earth orbits the sun. The earth’s northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun at the summer solstice. Graphic courtesy National Weather Service.
Interesting things are happening in the evening sky. Venus has been the brilliant “evening star” for months, but its reign is about to end and you can watch it make its exit in the next few weeks. You’ll see Venus in early twilight (and during the day if you know where to look), and an hour after sunset you can see Mars too, a very short distance to the upper left of Venus. That distance is 5° on the 19th, and you can see the two together in binoculars, but their separation decreases slowly night by night until it reaches a minimum of 3½° on the 30th. Venus is a whopping 300 times brighter than Mars so they’re a very unequal pair, but understandable: Mars is half the size of Venus, darker in color and 1/3 as reflective, and almost five times more distant (206 vs 46 million miles).
After the 30th Venus turns away and their separation very slowly increases, but you’ll see both together in binoculars until the middle of July.
Note that both planets set 4 minutes earlier each night and so are lower at the same time each night – a consequence of the earth’s motion around the sun. Soon there will be no planet in the early evening sky, so enjoy Venus and Mars while they’re still there.
To make this almost-conjunction even more interesting, the thin crescent moon joins them on the 21st when it’s only 3° from Venus and all three will fit in the view of binoculars. This is a photo opportunity if there is something interesting in the foreground.
The star to the upper left of Mars that is slightly brighter than the planet is Regulus, in Leo. Watch Mars approach Regulus; they’ll be in a close conjunction early next month.
Telescopically Venus is a crescent that grows noticeably thinner by the night.
Saturn rises shortly after midnight in the constellation Aquarius. Aquarius has no stars to rival Saturn so it’s not hard to pick it out.
Much brighter Jupiter rises as morning twilight begins, and it’s still very low in the east when it and the stars fade with the approaching sunrise.
It’s felt like summer for some time now, but summer officially begins at 8:58 a.m. MDT on June 21 — the summer solstice. That’s the moment when the earth’s constant 23½° tilt is pointed away from the sun. This orientation causes the sun to rise and set as far north of east and north of west as it will, its path across the sky is its highest, and the day is its longest. It’s warm now because we have more hours of sunlight and the sun shines down on us from on high.
Seasons are reversed in the northern and southern hemispheres. When the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, as it is now, the southern is tilted away, and June 21 marks the winter solstice for our friends south of the equator.
Stellar Vista Observatory provides portable telescopes and tripod mounted binocular kits on loan for free to residents and visitors in Kane County. Enhance your enjoyment of the night sky! To learn more, request a loan, or attend one of SVO’s free public star parties for 2023, visit https://stellarvistaobservatory.org/ or drop in to the Kane County Office of Tourism.
The Sky Report is presented as a public service by the Stellar Vista Observatory, a nonprofit organization based in Kanab, Utah, which provides opportunities for people to observe, appreciate, and comprehend our starry night sky. Additional information is at www.stellarvistaobservatory.org. Send questions and comments to John@StargazingAdventures.org.
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