Moon, Mercury and Mars
Graphic was made using staratlas.com
On Tuesday evening, the fingernail thin crescent moon will join Mercury and Mars in the evening sky. Look for this a few minutes after sunset. The sky will still be light, but you should be able to see these features for about an hour before they set.
My shot from June 2018. The moon was only 2% illuminated in this photo. So it was harder to spot than the moon we'll see Tuesday June 4th (3.4% illuminated)
Of course, the moon will appear higher in the evening sky through the rest of the week. On Wednesday evening, it will still be close to Mars.
Graphic was made using staratlas.com
The moon will then pass through the constellations of Leo and Virgo this weekend into next week.
June 10 will be a special day (and not just because it is my oldest child's birthday), but the Jupiter opposition occurs. The Earth will basically be exactly between Jupiter and the sun, so the gas giant will be visible in the night sky dusk until dawn.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Moon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Moon</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Jupiter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Jupiter</a> is just 1.5° apart tonight. Photo taken handheld with <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Nikon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Nikon</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/D500?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#D500</a> and 300mm lens. 100% scale shows two Jupiter moons <a href="https://t.co/6fkH49CaET">pic.twitter.com/6fkH49CaET</a></p>— Göran Strand (@Astrofotografen) <a href="https://twitter.com/Astrofotografen/status/841764458347274240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2017</a></blockquote>
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If you can't see the sky on June 10, no worries! Jupiter will remain very bright in the night sky through the summer! (it will just rise about 5 minutes earlier every night.)
Enjoy the warmer weather and your time outdoors. Thanks for reading. Just look up; you never know what you will see!
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