Moon Phase:
First Quarter 8th
Full Moon 14th
Last Quarter 21st
New Moon 29th
Winter Solstice: 21st
Planets:
Evening Sky
There are no planets visible to the unaided eye in the evening sky this month.
Morning Sky
All five planets visible to the unaided eye are all in the morning sky this month.
Mercury is low in the north-eastern morning sky in the constellation Taurus.
Venus is in the north-eastern morning sky starting the month in the constellation Aries before moving to join Mercury in Taurus in the middle of the month.
Mars is in the north-eastern morning sky and apart from a brief few days in the constellation Cetus in the first half of the month, spends the rest of the month in Pisces.
Jupiter is high in the north-eastern morning sky starting the month in the constellation Pisces and moving into Cetus in the last week of the month.
Saturn is high overhead in the early morning sky in the constellation Capricornus where it remains for the month. Early in the month, Saturn will appear to move from east to west across the sky, contrary to the movement of the background stars. This is known as retrograde motion, and Saturn will continue this movement across the sky for the next four months.
Worth a Look:
1st: Mars and Jupiter are only 1.5 degrees apart in the early morning sky.
17th: Mercury reached its greatest angular distance from the Sun (about 23 degrees) providing a great opportunity to observe the planet in dark skies.
24th: Mars and the waning crescent Moon are less than one degree apart. Definitely worth a look in binoculars or a small telescope.
26th: The waning crescent Moon will be above and to the northeast (left) of Venus and above and to the east (right) of the Pleiades (M45), a brilliant open start cluster. Below and to the east (right) of Venus, close to the horizon is Mercury. This is a great opportunity for widefield photographers to capture not only the Moon and two planets but also a bright star cluster.
You can download a star map for June here.
Clear Skies!
References:
Dawes G., Northfield P., Wallace K. (2020). Astronomy 2022 Australia, Quasar Publishing.
Lomb, N. (2021). 2022 Australasian sky guide. Ultimo, NSW: Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Media.
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