At any moment of the day, countless awe-inspiring celestial events are unfolding in the sky. With a universe of options, it can be hard to pin down what to observe. The purpose of this calendar is to provide a peek into what’s happening in the sky and in the world of astronomy in general and provide a quick list of highlights that can jump start your own explorations.
May 31/June 1 – Venus at Greatest Elongation
As the third brightest object in the sky, Venus is consistently an inspiring celestial target for both casual and avid sky watchers. But in the pre-dawn skies of June 1 (4 UTC), the brilliance of Venus will be even more pronounced as the planet reaches its greatest western elongation or its furthest point to the west of the Sun. Although visible to the naked eye at a magnitude of -4.4, a small telescope will further define Venus, which will be in a third quarter phase. Just look in the direction of sunrise to witness the spectacle.
Early June – !Daytime! Arietids Meteor Shower
Often characterized as the most active DAYTIME meteor shower, the annual Arietids are expected to peak on June 7. The shower, which has a radiant point in the Aries constellation, is an unusual target for meteor enthusiasts because it’s most active once the Sun is already up. Your best chance to catch an Arietid streaking overhead is to pick a pre-dawn timeslot during the first two weeks of June and watch for them in the direction of the sunrise. Although almost all of the meteors are visually lost to the daylight, the shower actually has a high ZHR or zenithal hourly rate of 60 meteors per hour!
June 11 – Strawberry Moon
It won’t be red, but it will be beautiful! Commonly known as the Strawberry Moon in North America, the June Full Moon got this moniker because its timing tends to coincide with the ripening of wild strawberries. If you’d like to see the Moon at its prime fullness, you’ll have to stay up late or get up early, as it reaches that pinnacle at 2:43 a.m. CDT on June 11. Although the Strawberry Moon will not deliver a red glow, it will be paired up with the red supergiant Antares, a bright star at the heart of the Scorpius constellation. Generally identified as the 16th brightest star in the sky, Antares is an irregular variable with a red-orange glow that makes it truly pop. The brilliance of the Full Moon may make it harder to see Antares, but it’s worth revisiting on a darker night when closer observations with a moderate telescope could reveal its blue companion star, which can be highly challenging to discern.
June 16 – Mars and Regulus Get Cozy
The Red Planet and the bright star Regulus will pair up in the night sky on June 16. One of the Leo constellation’s main attractions, the well-known Regulus, or “Little King,” pops in the night sky even to the unaided eye. Boasting an apparent visual magnitude of 1.35, this blue-white beauty anchors the sickle-shaped asterism that defines the head of the lion and is said to represent the beast’s heart. Regulus is actually a multiple star system that can be at least partially resolved with binoculars. Its dominant component has an interesting oblate shape due to rapid rotation.
June 20/21 – June Solstice
Even if you can‘t make it to Stonehenge, you can still mark the June solstice from wherever you are on the globe. At 2:42 UTC on June 21 (9:42 p.m. CDT on June 20), the Sun will reach its northernmost point in the sky, which means the Northern Hemisphere will enjoy its longest day and shortest night while the Southern Hemisphere sees its shortest day and longest night. For many, the event also unofficially marks the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and the start of winter in the Southern Hemisphere.
Constellation Spotlight:
Hercules Constellation
Named for one of the greatest mythological heroes, the Hercules constellation currently stands strong in the Northern Hemisphere’s night sky proudly displaying his celestial strengths. Visible from 90° north to 50° south, Hercules is the fifth largest constellation and covers a 1,225 square degree area. It is easy to locate due to its positioning between the very bright stars Vega in the Lyra constellation and Arcturus in the Bootes constellation.
Astrophotographer David Ng captured Messier 13 (the Hercules Globular Cluster) with the aid of an Explore Scientific ED102 Air-Spaced Triplet Refractor.
One of Hercules’ most stunning treats is the aptly named Great Globular Cluster (Messier 13). Home to hundreds of thousands of stars, this brilliant cluster covers a 145 light year span and is widely regarded as the best of its kind in the northern sky. Although it is huge, this celestial beauty is not an object for the unaided eye. To see resolved stars, you will need a telescope with a fairly large aperture. In addition to being a stunner, M13 has a unique spot in the history of radio astronomy. On November 16th, 1974, a team at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico broadcast a carefully planned cosmic communiqué into space via a powerful radio signal directed at Messier 13. The message, which took almost three minutes to send, was written by SETI pioneer Dr. Frank Drake with input from famed astrophysicist Carl Sagan and others, it consisted of a string of 1,679 binary digits that captured humanity’s highlights in pictorial form. The seven components of the message were: the numbers 1 to 10; the atomic numbers of the key elements hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and phosphorus; the formulas for the sugars and bases in the nucleotides of DNA; the number of nucleotides in DNA and the double helix structure; a graphic representation of a human figure next to the average height of a man and Earth’s population circa 1974; a layout of our solar system that indicates Earth’s position; and a graphic of the Arecibo Telescope with dimensions. Although a lot of thought went into the contents, the architects of the message knew the likelihood of it ever sparking an extraterrestrial conversation was virtually non-existent. It will take about 25,000 years for the message to reach its target, and by that time, M13 will have moved. The real point of the message was to communicate to those on Earth about where technological advances could someday take us.
Although it is spectacular, M13 is not the only deep sky beauty in Hercules. Other options include Messier 92, a bright globular cluster that breaks character by including an eclipsing binary in its mass of stars; Abell 39, a planetary nebula that appears as a large, near-perfect sphere; and the Hercules Cluster, a grouping of about 200 galaxies that is heavy on spirals. When it comes to actual stargazing, one of the first subjects of note is Alpha Herculis, which is a multi-star system comprised of a variable red giant and a binary companion made up of a yellow giant and a yellow-white dwarf. Hercules also has a quarter of stars that define its identifying Keystone asterism. These are Zeta Herculis, the asterism’s brightest member; Epsilon Herculis, a spectroscopic binary; Eta Herculis, a G-class giant; and Pi Herculis, an orange giant with a nice reddish hue. Other stellar targets include Beta Herculis, a binary system that is the constellation’s brightest star; Tau Herculis, a blue subgiant; and 89 Herculis, a rare yellow supergiant with an apparent magnitude of 5.555.
WANT TO NAVIGATE THE NIGHT SKY WITH EASE?
The Tirion Double-Sided Multi-Latitude Planisphere is a comprehensive sky map for northern hemisphere stargazers located between the equator and latitude 60° north that makes it easy to identify what constellations and major celestial objects are up in your night sky based on the date and time.
This night sky guide, which features maps crafted by noted celestial cartographer Wil Tirion, uses a double-sided design to minimize the distortion that is inherent to any polar-centered projection. This design choice means observers can see truer representations of the constellations located outside the equator (noted by a green line) by simply flipping the planisphere over.
In addition to showcasing constellations, this planisphere indicates the location of notable variable stars, open clusters, nebulae and galaxies. Other features include a line representing the ecliptic, a faint blue band for the Milky Way and a magnitude scale that indicates the brightness of the stars that are shown.
This astronomy planisphere is made of durable plastic that easily wipes clean, and the rotating components are secured with sturdy brass rivets for smooth manipulation. Guidance for using your sky map is printed on the device for quick reference.