Stargazing in Hampshire

STAR GAZING

WRITTEN BY KATE EARL

kateearlastro@gmail.com

Welcome to the June Stargazing Page. Highlights this month include a Planetary Parade and the hunt for noctilucent clouds.

International Space Station

The ISS can only be seen on the 29th and 30th this month, very early in the morning. To establish exact timings please refer to www.heavens-above.com or a similar webpage for up-to-date information, remembering to set the location to your observing area.

Events

Midsummer, or the Summer Solstice (from the Latin for ‘the sun stands still’) occurs on June 21st. For the northern hemisphere, it marks the day when the Sun reaches its highest point in the sky at noon (GMT). We experience this as the ‘longest day’ of the year (the longest amount of daylight and the shortest night). The early summer months are the best time to try and spot a rare and beautiful cloud-type: noctilucent clouds. If conditions are favourable, these blue-white illuminated clouds are visible thirty minutes after sunset for a couple of hours, in our northern skies. Although the exact cause of their formation is unknown, we know they are composed of tiny water ice crystals and form about 80km up in the atmosphere. Although June itself isn’t well-known for any major meteor showers, in 2014 the UN offi cially named June 30th as Asteroid Day. This day was chosen as it marks the anniversary of the Tunguska Event that took place in Siberia in 1908. Asteroid Day aims to raise awareness about asteroids, and if you want to fi nd out more head to the offi cial webpage at asteroidday.org.

Mercury

The innermost planet can be seen low in the northeast just before sunrise after the 16th.

Venus

Venus is dazzling away in our morning skies, rising around 3am in the northeast.

Mars

The red planet can be seen early in the morning, rising around 2am. It will be visible in our early evening skies late in the autumn.

Both gas giants are visible in the morning. Saturn rises fi rst around 12.30am. Jupiter is visible to its lower left, rising around 1.30am.

Planetary Parade

Late in June there is a rare opportunity for those of you with modest-sized telescopes to potentially see a ‘Planetary Parade’ (with the added bonus of the Moon and Pluto!), as around the 26th, with the help of sky maps freely available in magazines or the internet, it is possible to locate all well-known objects in the Solar System around 3.30am (see fi gure). Be mindful that dawn advances quickly at this time of year, so ensure you know the time of sunrise in your area and never look directly at the Sun with the naked eye or optical aids. For those of you without telescopes, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be visible in a line all month in our early morning skies.

Moon

June’s full moon occurs on the 14th.

Venus

Mercury

NE

Uranus Mars Jupiter Neptune

Planetary Parade 25th June 4am

Saturn

Pluto

S

Trees needed to show low to horizon please. Grading to remain thesame to denote nearly sunrise.

Noctilucent clouds