We may be not able to catch a glimpse of Venus as an evening star this month at all, as she begins June under the SunÕs beams. However she will re-appear as a morning star before the month is over. Saturn and Mars grace the western sky at sunset, setting around 11:00 and 11:15 p.m. respectively. Jupiter appears in the southwest sky at sunset and sets around 2:00 a.m. Mercury will make a brief appearance as a morning star low along the north-northeast horizon just before sunrise. Mercury falls under the SunÕs beams on the 6th and will no longer be visible. This month we can again observe some comets and a meteor shower. An important event with Venus this month is her transit of the Sun.
By midmonth, we find Saturn setting around 10:00 p.m. followed by Mars at 10:45 p.m. This half hour difference in set times shows how much Mars is pulling away from Saturn. Jupiter sets around 1:15 a.m. on the 15th. Saturn falls under the SunÕs beams on the 19th and will only be visible thereafter under exceptional conditions. By the end of the month, Saturn is completely lost to the glow of the Sunset and Mars sets a little after 10:00 p.m. Jupiter sets around midnight at the conclusion of the month.
Tracking the movement of Mars is easy this month because he travels over half a sign. Saturn only moves 2 degrees before falling into the glow of sunset. The Moon joins Saturn in the evening sky on the 18th, just before he disappears from view for a while. Jupiter is still slow from last monthÕs station and making only a little over 3 degrees of eastward movement. However if you watch the distance between Jupiter and Regulus, you can notice him pull slightly away from the beginning of the month to the end. Also you can watch for Jupiter to gain slightly on Denobola (LeoÕs tail star) by monthÕs end.
Make note of Mars position at the beginning of the month. He is in the middle of the constellation Gemini. As June progresses, he moves noticeably towards the TwinÕs heads at an angle that is to the left (east) and lower than the stick figure connection of the stars. On the 19th the Mars will lie next to Pollux in the evening sky and be joined by the Moon. By monthÕs end Mars will be finished with his trek through the Gemini constellation and be moving through the dim stars of Cancer.
Mercury is visible as a morning star at the beginning of the month, rising around 5:25 a.m. while it is still dark enough to catch a glimpse. By the 6th he will disappear from view. Mercury reaches Ōsuperior conjunctionĶ on the 18th at 5:00 p.m. This means he is conjunct the Sun on the opposite side from Earth, also aligned. Watch the last couple evenings of June for Mercury to appear very low along the north-northwest horizon as the skies darken at sunset.
Something interesting this month we can understand through the examples of MercuryÕs superior conjunction and VenusÕ inferior conjunction is the observational difference between the two types of conjunctions. MercuryÕs conjunction to the Sun is ŌsuperiorĶ, thus he was first a morning star and then an evening star. The reverse is true with Venus. Venus makes Ōinferior conjunctionĶ with the Sun on the 8th. She is aligned with Earth and Sun between the two. This alignment is very close and this is particularly significant inferior conjunction called a ŌtransitĶ that IÕll come back to in a minute. The point at this time is that Venus was an evening star last month and will become a morning star by monthÕs end. The other difference between the two types of inner planet conjunctions is retrogradation. Inferior conjunctions occur midway through a planetÕs retrograde period, because planets appear to stop and turn backwards from our geocentric point of view when they are closest to Earth on the same side of the Sun. Venus went retrograde last month on the 17th and stations direct this month on the 29th. Her inferior conjunction and astronomical transit occurs mid-period on the 8th. Mercury is not in a retrograde period with the superior conjunction.
The reason this inferior conjunction of Venus on June 8th is so special, is because she actually ÒtransitsÓ the Sun, meaning she can be seen crossing the SunÕs surface. An interesting fact about the inner planets is that these ÒtransitsÓ occur in cyclical periods. These operate like Saros Series of Solar/Lunar eclipses. A Venus saros type series is 243 years between repeats of the same family. The occurrence rate of these Venus ÒtransitsÓ follows this pattern: 8 years, 105.5 years, 8 years, 121.5 years. The sum of which is a complete 243 year cycle. We have not had one of these ÒtransitsÓ since December 6, 1882, 121.5 years ago. Therefore the next one in the cycle will occur 8 years from now, June 6, 2012. This is all we will witness in our lifetime. The next one will be December 11, 2117, 105.5 years from upcoming Venus transit in 2012. The Venus series 1 and 2 have completed. The family of Venus transits IÕve mentioned here belong to series 3 (our current June 8, 2004), series 5 (upcoming June 6, 2012), series 6 (the future Dec 11, 2117), and series 4 (the long past Dec 6, 1882). Notice the even numbered series fall in December and the odd numbered series fall in June. This is the ascending and descending nodes coming into play, respectively – just as the Nodes of the Moon need to come into play for there to be an eclipse. This is why a Venus transit of the Sun does not occur every 8 years. If any of you would like more technical data on the transits of Venus and their saros types series than I can supply in this brief article, please visit http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/transit/catalog/VenusCatalog.html
Optimal locations for witnessing the rare transit of Venus across the Sun are in Europe, Africa, and Asia where the event is visible in its entirety. Observers in Japan and Australia can witness the beginning of the transit, but the Sun will set before it is over. Observers in the eastern United States and Canada and most of South America will be able to witness the very end of the transit after sunrise. Observers in the western United States and Canada will not be able to witness the event. The transit begins around 5:30 a.m. GMT and ends around 11:15 a.m. GMT. The Ōgreatest transitĶ occurs at 8:24 GMT. These times are analogous to the entering and leaving the umbra phase of an eclipse and the center time of totality.
For those of you that can observe the transit, what you will notice is a small black circle crossing the Sun. The same safety rules for looking into an eclipse apply. Please remember to wear a good strong pair of welding glasses if you are going to witness this rare event. Regular sunglasses are not strong enough to provide retina protection for staring directly into the Sun. DonÕt put binoculars or a telescope to the sun without the appropriate solar filters attached either. ItÕs not really necessary to use aides since this will be visible by the carefully protected naked eye. Please remember to borrow a pair of welding glasses from someone; you donÕt want this to be the last thing you see.
The Bootid Meteor Shower occurs between June 26th and July 2nd, peaking on the 27th. This shower is compliments of its parent comet Pons-Winnecke. The radients from this comet stem from the area of the sky near the constellations Bootes, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Looking northwest around 2:00 a.m. in North America should provide favorable viewing of this shower as that area of the sky be high enough above the horizon. Observers in Europe are favored because the gibbous moon sets as the shower gets into viewing position. Bootes remains low along the horizon over Australia and Ursa Major and Minor donÕt rise, it is not likely our Australian friends will be able to observe this shower.
The tail of Comet Neat points straight up from the Northern Hemisphere view point. It is traveling through Ursa Major this month at a 4th magnitude that should be detectable. To locate this comet find the lower right corner of the bowl of Big Dipper and follow it straight down. Neat fades considerably to a 6th magnitude by monthÕs end, so if you are going to find it, find it in early June. A sky map of June 23rd at 10:00 p.m. depicting Moon, Jupiter, Mars, Alphard and Ursa Major is available in the OCA Public Library for the northern hemisphere.
Comet Linear can be located by using Jupiter as a guide. Something interesting about this comet is that it is going to travel closer to the Sun than Venus. There is a slight chance it will burn up creating a flare before dissolving to dust. In the northern hemisphere, follow Jupiter down to the horizon and look for the star Aplhard of Hydra. Linear will be just below. Alphard sets around 10:15 p.m. Observers in the northern hemisphere are best to catch the commet during the first half of June, after which it will drop into the area affected by city lights. For observers in Australia, Alphard is below and to the left of Jupiter. Alphard sets by 11:30 so the comet will set before then. A sky map of June 24th at 9:00 p.m. depicting Moon, Jupiter and Alphard is available in the OCA Public Library for the southern hemisphere.
The Full Moon occurs at 12:20 a.m. EDT on the 3rd, followed is perigee at 9:12 a.m. EDT that same day. The Third Quarter Moon occurs on the 9th at 4:02 p.m. EDT. The Moon reaches apogee on the 17th at 12:01 p.m. EDT just before her New Moon phase at 4:27 p.m. EDT. The Moon dances with Saturn in the night sky on the 19th,Mars on the 20th, and Jupiter on the 23rd. The First Quarter Moon occurs on the 25th at 3:08 p.m.
Happy star gazing, comet watching, meteor shower viewing, and safe Venus transit viewing!
Julene M. Johnson, NCGR-III
Media Director, OCA
Instructor, OCA
ONLINE College of Astrology www.astrocollege.com FIRST in Online Astrological Education
