Tour of the Sky: June 2007

Download this month's sky map!

Kym Thalassoudis does a wonderful job creating accurate and easy to use star maps every month! Visit his site at www.skymaps.com for skymaps and links to other useful astronomical sites. Also a great portal for astronomical gifts!

Northern hemisphere sky map
Southern hemisphere sky map

Those in the Southern Hemisphere should also visit James Barclay's site for a great tour of the Southern Hemisphere June sky.

Another great site for Southern Hemisphere viewers is the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand's Southern Hemisphere Calendar can be found at the RASNZ site
Ian Musgrave has a very handy Southern Hemisphere site called Southern Sky Watch.

Download "What's up 2007: 365 days of Skywatching" by Tammy Plotner, published by Universe Today (Faser Cain) it is a fantastic and it is free!

Planets for June 2007

• Mercury- Look for Mercury between Venus and the horizon after sunset until around the 18th (depending upon your latitude) when Mercury disappears in the glare of the sun. Mercury is best at the beginning of the month where he sits just to the NE of M35, an unorganized open cluster at the feet of Castor. Also in the immediate area is NGC 2158 which I think is a much nicer object. At greatest elongation on June 2nd Mercury has reached hip high between the twins before swinging back towards the sun via Pollux's knees. .4 mag (1st) to 3.7 mag (21st)
• Venus- High in the sky after dark Venus continues to highlight the western sky reaching greatest elongation 45 deg east on June 9th. Venus makes several great photo ops this month starting with a nice line up with Castor and Pollux (Gemini) the first couple of days of June before sliding over to graze the Beehive Cluster (M44) between the 12th and 13th. Get the telescopes and cameras ready for the 17th-19th as the young Moon slides past Venus and Saturn. Finally she pairs up with Saturn between the 28th and the first of July for a nice close encounter. -4.1 mag (1st) to - 4.2 mag (21st)
• Mars- In Pisces until June 26th when it passes into Ares. Look for the red planet near the moon on the 10th where they both sit on the western arm of Pisces. Very low on the horizon for mid-upper Northern Latitudes better viewing the further south you go and outstanding in the Southern Hemisphere. 0.8 mag (1st) to 0.8 mag (21st)
• Jupiter- King of the planets is finally in prime position rising as the sun sets and is visible all night. Opposition on June 5th puts Jupiter 400 million miles from Earth. Jupiter moves eastward across lower Ophiucus and by Aug 1st sits just north of Antares. Low in the sky for mid-high northern latitudes moves higher in the sky as you move south. Some nice days to catch his four Galilean moons close to the planet disk are: 4th, 5th, 12th, 29th, and 30th -2.6 mag (1st) to -2.6 mag (21st)
• Saturn-Absolutely beautiful in Leo almost at the Cancer border. Saturn's rings are tipped 15 deg from edgewise towards us so take advantage of these beautiful rings by catching Saturn earlier in the month before the Moon rises. Saturn make a nice appearance near Venus between the 17th and 30th and the Moon on the 18th 0.5 mag (1st) to 0.5 mag (21st)
• Uranus-In Aquarius 5.9 mag (1st) to 5.8 mag (21st)
• Neptune-Will camp out in Capricorn all year long 7.9 mag (1st) to 7.9 mag (21st)
• 4 Vesta -Categorized as a minor planet (Vesta family Main Belt) we are adding her to the mix because she will be not far from Jupiter this month and at a magnitude of 5.4 - 6.0 will be a good naked eye object for June. Vesta is the second most massive object in the asteroid belt with a mean diameter of 540 km and was named after the Roman goddess of home and hearth.

  On the 4th of July she spends Independence day just north of the double star Beta Scorpius.

Key Dates for June 2007

Days and Times in UT (help with time)
Observations are for 8pm for the mid-southern latitudes and for 11pm for the mid-northern latitudes.

Great site for sunrise and sunset times and a downloadable toolbar application by Steve Edwards

Occultation information can be found at the IOTA website! Astronomical Highlights

June
1	- Full Moon 1:04 UT
2	- Mercury at greatest elongation, 23 deg east of the Sun (evening sky)
5	- Jupiter at opposition 23h UT
8	- Last Quarter Moon 11:43 UT
9	- Venus at greatest elongation 45 deg east of Sun (evening sky)
	- Jupiter double shadow transit 9:18 UT
10	- Moon near Mars (5 deg S of Moon)22h UT in the morning sky
12	- Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) 363,780 km from Earth
12-13	- Venus skims the Beehive Cluster (M44)
13	- For you sundial lovers the equation of time at 0 ... for more information.
15	- New Moon 3:13 UT
17	- Pluto at opposition
18	- Moon near Venus, possible daytime occultation check IOTAfor occultation information for your area
19	- Moon near Saturn (8h UT) AND Regulus (23h) possible occultation check IOTAfor occultation information for your area
21	- June Solstice 18:06 UT The sun reaches its highest point north of the celestial equator and is at 'stand still' before moving south again. This is the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere (middle or beginning of summer) or the shortest day in the Southern Hemisphere (middle or beginning of winter). For a great animation of the 'seasons' check out the Prentice Hall site
22	- First Quarter Moon 13:15 UT
23	- Uranus at standstill begins its retrograde motion (westward)
24	- Moon at apogee (furthest from Earth) 404,540 km
28	- Moon near Antares 8h UT possible occultation check IOTA for occultation information for your area
30	- Full Moon 13:49 UT
	- Close encounter of Venus and Saturn

Monthly Messier*

This month we attack the heart of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. If you download show #39 we actually walk you through a nice long list of Virgo Galaxies including those listed below.

These 13 galaxies all within less than 100 square degrees of sky and the brightest of these galaxies, M87, is only 8.6 in total magnitude so this will be a telescope only month. Plan on searching for small faint fuzzies, dark, clear skies are a must.

M84, M86 - A pair of elliptical galaxies in the famous Markarian's Chain in Virgo. Appear as small fuzzy balls with bright, almost stellar cores. Both easily fit into the same low power field of view. M86 is slightly brighter and more oval than round M84.

M87 - M87 - Elliptical galaxy famous for its black hole and jet. Another round fuzzy ball with a bright core. Slightly brighter than both M84 and M86.

M89 and elliptical galaxy paired with spiral galaxy M90 - Both of these galaxies fit into the same low power field of view. M89 is another round fuzzy ball similar to M84, while M90 appears as an oval patch of light larger than M89. M90 has a bright central region.

M91 - Spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices. A faint, slightly irregular oval hazy patch of light.

M88 - A small oval shaped fuzzy patch with a bright stellar core. Similar in size and shape to M90. Can fit into the same field of view as M91. Bump up the power and see if you can tease out the spiral arms.

M58 - Another spiral galaxy that appears as a slightly oval shaped fuzzy patch of light with a bright central region.

M59, M60 - M59 and M60, both are elliptical galaxies and both can easily fit into the same field of view. M59 is a small, hazy oval patch, not all that easy to see. M60 is another fuzzy oval patch of light, larger and brighter than M59.

M99 - A bright round fuzzy patch of light which is a face on spiral galaxy.

M98 - This edge-on spiral galaxy appears as a bright pencil like streak of light.

M100 - A round hazy glow of light, bright in the center but gradually fading towards the edge. Using more power and averted vision see if you can detect the spiral arms of this face on galaxy.

For navigating the Virgo Cluster I highly recommend "Mastering the Virgo Cluster" by Alan M MacRobert; Sky & Telescope (Archives); May 1994; 42;

*Monthly Messier information gleaned from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Moncton Centre Quebec and from the Astronomy Connection website.

Astronomical Highlights for 2007

Earth's major motions for 2007

Perihelion		Jan 3 20h(UT)
First Cross Quarter Day		Feb 2-6
Equinox		Mar 21 00:07(UT)
Second Cross Quarter Day		May 4-7
Solstice		June 21 18:06(UT)
Aphelion		July 4 00h (UT)
Third Cross Quarter Day		Aug 5-8
Equinox		Sept 23 19:51(UT)
Fourth Cross Quarter Day		Nov 5-8
Solstice		Dec 22 06:08(UT)

Planet Positions for 2007

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Venus

Sgr

Aqr

Psc

Ari

Tau

Gem

Leo

Sex

Cnc

Leo

Leo

Vir

Mars

Oph

Sgr

Cap

Cap

Aqr

Psc

Ari

Tau

Tau

Gem

Gem

Gem

Jupiter

Oph

Oph

Oph

Oph

Oph

Oph

Oph

Oph

Oph

Oph

Oph

Oph

Saturn

Leo

Leo

Leo

Leo

Leo

Leo

Leo

Leo

Leo

Leo

Leo

Leo

Uranus

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Aqu

Neptune

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Cap

Eclipses for 2007

March 19 - partial solar eclipse (see map, times, and animation!): The first solar eclipse of 2007 occurs at the Moon's ascending node in Pisces and is visible from eastern Asia and parts of northern Alaska

September 11 - partial solar eclipse (see map, times, and animation): The last eclipse of 2007 is a partial solar eclipse at the Moon's descending node in southern Leo. Its visibility is confined to parts of South America, Antarctica and the South Atlantic

March 3-4 - total lunar eclipse (see map): The beginning of the umbral phase visible in the Arctic region, Africa, Europe, Asia except for extreme eastern region, most of Indonesia, western Australia, Queen Maud Land of Antarctica, extreme eastern South America, Greenland, the Indian Ocean, the South Atlantic Ocean, and the eastern North Atlantic Ocean; the end visible in Africa, Europe, western Asia, Queen Maud Land of Antarctica and Antarctic Peninsula, South America, eastern North America, Greenland, the Arctic region, the Atlantic Ocean, the western Indian Ocean, and the extreme eastern South Pacific Ocean.

August 28 - total lunar eclipse (see map): The beginning of the umbral phase visible in North America, South America except extreme east, Antarctica except for Enderby Land, New Zealand, eastern Australia, extreme northeastern Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and the western Atlantic Ocean; the end visible in New Zealand, Australia, most of Antarctica except Queen Maud Land, Indonesia, eastern Asia, western North America, the Pacific Ocean, and the southeastern Indian Ocean.

Eclipse information from: NASA Eclipse Homepage, Eclipses Online (HM Nautical Almanac Office, UK in coordination with the U.S. Naval Observatory)

Meteor Showers for 2007

As luck would have it, all the major meteor showers reach their peaks in 2007 with the Moon out of the sky. Any of these showers can produce dozens of shooting stars each dark hour leading up to dawn.

Mark your calendar to look for...

• Lyrids on April 23rd
• Perseids on August 13th
• Orionids on October 21st
• Leonids on November 18th
• Geminids on the night of December 13-14 (Meteor enthusiasts are keenly awaiting the Geminids in 2007 because their progenitor, the defunct comet Phaethon, precedes them in a flyby of Earth on December 10th.)

Comets for June

Gary Kronk's comet and meteor pages
Skyhound Comet pages

Historical and Current Events

...Did you know?

Culled from Wikipedia by Mark Tillotson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June )
Thanks Mark!!!

6/1
b- 1928 - Georgi Dobrovolski, cosmonaut (Moon crater)

6/2
1896 - Guglielmo Marconi receives a patent for his newest invention: the radio.
1966 - Surveyor program: Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, 
		 becoming the first US spacecraft to soft land on another world.
2003 - Europe launches its first voyage to another planet, Mars. The European 
		 Space Agency's Mars Express probe launches from the Baikonur space 
		 centre in Kazakhstan.
b- 1930 – Pete Conrad, NASA Astronaut. Flew on Gemini 5, 11, Apollo 12, 
	 and Skylab 2 missions. (d. 7/8/1999)

6/3
1965 - Launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew.
1965 - For 21 minutes, Edward H. White floats free outside the space 
		 vehicle Gemini IV for the first time.
b- 1659 - David Gregory, Scottish astronomer (d. 1708)

6/4
1769 - A transit of Venus is followed five hours later by a total 
		 solar eclipse, the shortest such interval in the historical past.
b- 470 BC - Socrates, Greek philosopher (d. 399 BC)
b- 460 BC - Hippocrates, Greek historian (d. 370 BC)
b- 1754 - Franz Xaver, Baron Von Zach, Austrian editor and 
	 astronomer (d. 1832) (Moon crater)

6/5
b- 1819 - John Couch Adams, English mathematician and 
	 astronomer (d. 1892) (Moon crater)

6/6
1971 - Soyuz program: Soyuz 11 launches.
2002 - Eastern Mediterranean Event. A near-Earth asteroid estimated 
		 at 10 meters diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between 
		 Greece and Libya. The resulting explosion is estimated to have a 
		 force of 26 kilotons, slightly more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb.
b- 1436 - Regiomontanus, German mathematician (d. 1476) (Moon crater)
b- 1580 - Godefroy Wendelin, Flemish astronomer (d. 1667)
b- 1932 - David Scott, NASA astronaut. Flew on Gemini 8 and Apollo 9 and 15.
 
6/7
d- 1826 - Joseph von Fraunhofer, German physicist and astronomer 
	 (b. 1787) (Moon crater)

6/8
2004 - First Transit of Venus in this millennium.
b- 1625 - Giovanni Domenico Cassini, Italian scientist and astronomer 
	 (d. 1712) (Moon crater)

6/10
2003 - The Spirit Rover is launched, beginning NASA's Mars Exploration 
		 Rover mission.
b- 1710 - James Short, Scottish mathematician (d. 1768) (Moon crater)
b- 1929 – James A. McDivitt, NASA Astronaut. Command Pilot, 
	 Gemini 4 (1965) and Commander, Apollo 9 (1969).

6/11
2004 - Cassini-Huygens makes its closest flyby of Phoebe.
b- 1723 - Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer (d. 1788) 
	 (Moon crater)

6/12
1967 - Venera program: Venera 4 is launched (it will become the first 
		 space probe to enter another planet's atmosphere and successfully return data).
2004 - A 1.3 kg chondrite type meteorite strikes a house in Ellerslie, 
		 New Zealand causing serious damage but no injuries.
b- 1577 - Paul Guldin, Swiss astronomer and mathematician (d. 1643)

6/13
1983 - Pioneer 10 becomes the first manmade object to leave the solar system.
b- 1773 - Thomas Young, English scientist (d. 1829) (Moon crater)
b- 1831 - James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist (d. 1879) (Moon crater)
d- 1993 - Deke Slayton, astronaut (b. 1924)

6/14
1822 - Charles Babbage proposes a difference engine in a paper to the 
		 Royal Astronomical Society entitled "Note on the application of 
		 machinery to the computation of astronomical and mathematical tables."
1962 - The European Space Research Organization is established in Paris – 
		 later becoming the European Space Agency.
1967 - Mariner program: Mariner 5 is launched toward Venus.

6/15
763 BC - Assyrians record a solar eclipse that will be used to fix the 
		chronology of Mesopotamian history.
b- 1765 - Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger, 
	 German mathematician (d. 1831) (Moon crater)

6/16
1911 - A 772 gram stony meteorite struck earth near Kilbourn, 
		 Columbia County, Wisconsin damaging a barn.
1963 - Soviet Space Program: Vostok 6 Mission, Cosmonaut Valentina 
		 Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.
b- 1888 - Peter Stoner, American mathematician, astronomer and 
	 Christian apologist (d. 1980)

6/17
b- 1714 - César-François Cassini de Thury, French astronomer (d. 1784)

6/18
1178 - Five Canterbury monks see what was possibly the Giordano 
		 Bruno crater being formed. It is believed that the current 
		 oscillations of the moon's distance (on the order of meters) 
		 are a result of this collision.
1983 - Space Shuttle program: STS-7, Astronaut Sally Ride becomes 
		 the first American woman in space.
d- 1650 - Christoph Scheiner, German astronomer (b. 1573) (Moon crater)
d- 1922 - Jacobus Kapteyn, Dutch astronomer (b. 1851)

6/19
b- 1846 - Antonio Abetti, Italian astronomer (d. 1928) (Moon crater)
b- 1922 - Aage Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel laureate (Moon crater)
b- 1933 - Viktor Patsayev, Soviet cosmonaut

6/20
1990 - Asteroid Eureka discovered.
1941 - Ulf Merbold, German physicist and astronaut

6/21
2004 - SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane 
		 to achieve spaceflight.
2006 - Pluto's newly discovered moons are officially christened 
		 Nix & Hydra on this date.
b- 1646 (O.S.) - Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, German philosopher 
	 and scientist (d. 1716) (Moon crater)
b- 1823 - Jean Chacornac, French astronomer (d. 1873) (Moon crater)
b- 1863 - Max Wolf, German astronomer (d. 1932) (Moon crater)
b- 1958 - Gennady Padalka, cosmonaut
d- 1951 - Charles Dillon Perrine, American astronomer (b. 1867) 
	 (Moon crater)

6/22
1633 - The Holy Office in Rome forces Galileo Galilei to recant 
		 his scientific view that the Sun, not the Earth, is the 
		 center of the Universe.
b- 1930 - Yuri Artyukhin, cosmonaut (d. 1998)
d- 1429 - Ghiyath al-Kashi, Persian astronomer and mathematician (b. 1380)

6/23
b- 1612 - André Tacquet, Belgian mathematician (d. 1660) (Moon crater)
b- Donn Eisele, NASA Astronaut. Flew on Apollo 7. (d. 12/2/1987)

6/24
1983 - Space Shuttle program: STS-7 Mission Sally Ride, first 
		 female American astronaut, returns to earth.
b- 1485 - Johannes Bugenhagen, German reformer (d. 1558)
b- 1915 - Fred Hoyle, British astronomer (d. 2001)
d- 1946 - Ellison Onizuka, American astronaut (d. 1986)
d- 1637 - Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, French astronomer (
	 b. 1580) (Moon crater)

6/25
1997 - An unmanned Progress spacecraft collided with the Russian 
		 Space station, Mir.
d- 1671 - Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Italian astronomer (b. 1598) 
	 (Moon crater)

6/26
1973 - On Plesetsk Cosmodrome 9 people are killed in an explosion 
		 of a Cosmos 3-M rocket.
b- 1904 - Frank Scott Hogg, Canadian astronomer (d. 1951) (Moon crater)
b- 1925 - Pavel Belyayev, cosmonaut (d. 1970) (Moon crater)

6/28
d- 1889 - Maria Mitchell, American astronomer (b. 1818) (Moon crater)

6/29
512 - A solar eclipse is recorded by a monastic chronicler in Ireland.
1995 - Space Shuttle program: STS-71 Mission (Atlantis docks with 
		 the Russian space station Mir for the first time.)
b- 1868 - George Ellery Hale, American astronomer (d. 1938) (Moon crater)
b- 1962 - George Zamka, astronaut

6/30
1905 - Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics 
		 of Moving Bodies", where he introduces special relativity.
1908 - The Tunguska impact event occurs in Siberia.
1971 - The crew of the Soviet Soyuz 11 spacecraft is killed when 
		 their air supply escapes through a faulty valve.
d- 1971 - Crew of Soyuz 11
	 o Viktor Patsayev (b. 1933)
	 o Georgi Dobrovolski (b. 1928)
	 o Vladislav Volkov (b. 1935)

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