June Skies by Dick Cookman
Highlights: Comet Journal, Martian Landers, Meteor Showers, Planet Plotting, June Moon
Focus Constellations: Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Draco, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Camelopardalis, Lynx, Leo Minor, Canes Venatici, Coma Berenices, Bootes, Corona Borealis, Hercules, Lyra, Ophiuchus, Virgo, Leo
- Comet Journals
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is a 8th magnitude comet in northern Virgo. Perihelion passage is in Sextans in late September when it may briefly attain naked eye visibility at 1st magnitude. It passes perigee (closest to Earth) on October 12, lighting up the western evening sky. It will then circle through the summer triangle in Aquila, Cygnus, and Lyra for the next 6 months as it retreats to the Oort Cloud.
Comet 13P/Olbers (2024) is a short period 6th magnitude comet between Auriga and Lynx. It will move into Leo Minor in July after passing through perihelion on June 30. it will be closest to Earth on July 20.
- Mars Landers
Abundant evidence for organic molecules on Mars gathered by the various landers over almost 50 years demands explanation. Are they of biologic or abiotic origin? According to Riko Seibo in his article “Tracing organic matter origins in Martian sediments” on marsdaily.com, Professors Yuichiro Ueno from Tokyo Institute of Technology and Matthew Johnson from the University of Copenhagen, concluded that carbon in Martian organic molecules have C-12, C-13 ratios more similar to organic molecules formed by atmospheric processes than those formed from biologic processes. “Early Mars had a CO2-rich atmosphere. Laboratory experiments showed that solar UV light causes 12CO2 to dissociate into CO depleted in 13C, leaving behind CO2 enriched in 13C. This isotopic fractionation also occurs in the upper atmospheres of Mars and Earth. In a reducing Martian atmosphere, CO transforms into simple organic compounds like formaldehyde and carboxylic acids, which may have settled in sediments.” In new research described on science daily.com, scientists at Tohoku University determined that “Organic materials discovered on Mars may have originated from atmospheric formaldehyde.”
- Meteor Showers
There are 3 meteor showers in June, the Arietids Lyrids, and Bootids The best is the Bootid shower at the end of June which has to compete with the waning gibbous Moon in Aquarius which is high in the south when Bootes is setting in the west and the meteors are most abundant. The two other showers are weak.
June 27: Bootids. Active June 26-July 2. Radiant 14h56m +48°, ZHR variable 0-100+. 18 km/sec. Waning Gibbous Moon. Progenitor: Comet 7P Pons-Winnecke, a short-period comet orbiting the Sun once every 6.37 years which was last at perihelion in January, 2015.
- Planet Plottings
During June, morning skies host Jupiter (-1.8 to -1.9, in Taurus), Mercury (-0.8 to -0.5, in Taurus and Gemini), Uranus (5.8, in Taurus), Mars (1.1 to 1.0, in Pisces and Aries), Neptune (7.9, in Pisces), and Saturn (1.2 to 1.1, in Aquarius). They are lined up in that order in Taurus, Pisces, and Aquarius 25 minutes before sunrise on June 6. Jupiter and Mercury are just above the horizon south of the rising Sun after their June 4 conjunction. The waning crescent Moon is between Uranus and Mars and the others appear progressively higher when scanning to the ESE. The waning crescent Moon passes Mercury on the 5th which is in superior conjunction with the Sun on the 14th, after which it moves to the evening sky and appears above the western horizon at month’s end.
Early morning skies provide Jupiter views which, like those of nearby Uranus, are higher in the East as the month progresses. Uranus and Jupiter appear to approach Mars during the month and are passed by the waning crescent Moon on the 4th and 5th. Saturn and Neptune are in close proximity higher in the south in Aquarius and Pisces and are passed by the waning gibbous Moon on the 27th and 28th.
Venus (-3.8, in Gemini) has its superior conjunction with the Sun on the 4th and is passed by the waning gibbous Moon passes by on the 6th. It does not appear in the night sky in June. The summer Solstice is on the 20th at 4:51PM EDT, giving us our longest day and shortest night because the northern hemisphere is nodding by 23.5° toward the Sun.
|
Planet |
Constellation(s) |
Magnitude |
Planet Passages |
Time |
Date |
| Sun |
Taurus |
-26.5 |
New Moon |
8:38AM EDT |
6/6 |
| Mercury |
Taurus, Gemini |
-0.8 to -0.5 |
Jupiter, 0.1°S |
6:00AM EDT |
6/4 |
| Mercury |
Taurus, Gemini |
-0.8 to -0.5 |
Superior Conjunction |
1:00PM EDT |
6/14 |
| Venus |
Gemini |
-3.8 |
Superior Conjunction |
Noon EDT |
6/4 |
| Mars |
Pisces, Aries |
1.1 to 1.0 |
|||
| Jupiter |
Taurus |
-1.8 to -1.9 |
Mercury, 0.1°N |
6:00AM EDT |
6/4 |
| Saturn |
Aquarius |
1.2 to 1.1 |
|||
| Uranus |
Taurus |
5.8 |
|||
| Neptune |
Pisces |
7.9 |
- June Moon
The New Moon of June is in Taurus on the 6th at 8:38AM EDT. The New Moon marks the start of Lunation 1255 which ends 29.39 days later with the New Moon of July in Gemini on the 5th at 6:58PM EDT.
The Full Moon on the 21st occurs at 9:08PM EDT in Sagittarius. It is called the Rose, Flower, or Strawberry Moon. Colonial Americans preferred to call it the “Rose Moon”. To the Celts it was the “Moon of Horses”, and the Chinese refer to it as the “Lotus Moon”. Medieval English thought of it as the “Dyan Moon”, and the Anishinaabe (Odawa and Ojibwe) people of northern Michigan recognize it as “Ode’imini-giizis (Strawberry Moon)” in the eastern dialect and “Baashkaabigonii-giizis (Blooming Moon)” in the western dialect). Ontario’s Earth Haven Farm presents cultural teachings explaining the cycle of life and nature of the 13 Grandmother Moons. “The sixth moon of Creation is Strawberry Moon. The medicine of the strawberry is reconciliation. It was during this moon cycle that communities usually held their annual feasts, welcoming everyone home, regardless of their differences over the past year, letting go of judgment and/or self-righteousness.”
Lunar perigee (minimum lunar distance) is on the 2nd when the Moon is at 228,728 mi. (57.71 Earth radii) at 3:16AM EDT. Lunar Apogee (maximum lunar distance) is on June 14 at 9:35AM EDT when the Moon’s distance is 251,082mi. (63.35 Earth radii).
|
Planet |
Constellation |
Magnitude |
Moon Passages |
Moon Phase |
Moon Age |
| Sun | Taurus |
-26.8 |
8:38AM EDT, 6/6 | New | 0 Days |
| Mercury | Taurus |
-1.2 |
4.0°N, 1:00PM EDT, 6/5 | Waning Crescent | 28.57 Days |
| Venus | Gemini |
-3.8 |
4.5°N, 10:00AM EDT, 6/6 | Waning Gibbous | 16.18 Days |
| Mars | Pisces |
1.0 |
2.0°N, 8:00PM EDT, 6/2 | Waning Crescent | 25.86 Days |
| Jupiter | Taurus |
-1.8 |
5.0°N, 10:00AM EDT, 6/5 | Waning Crescent | 28.44 Days |
| Saturn | Aquarius |
1.1 |
0.8°N, 11:00AM EDT, 6/27 | Waning Gibbous | 21.10 Days |
| Uranus | Taurus |
5.8 |
4.0°N, 9:00PM EDT, 6/4 | Waning Crescent | 27.90 Days |
| Neptune | Pisces |
7.9 |
0.3° N, 5:00AM EDT, 6/28 | Waning Gibbous | 26.03 Days |
