June 2019: 3 things stargazers should look for in the night sky
Astronomers have announced the discovery of a "forbidden" planet.
June signals the official start to summer across the Northern Hemisphere, and while this translates to shorter nights, there will be plenty to see after the sun has set.
Here are three astronomy events to mark on your calendar throughout June:
1. Jupiter Opposition
When: June 10
June’s short nights may not be the best for stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere, but it will be the best month of the year to spot Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system.
On June 10, Jupiter will be on the opposite side of the Earth as the sun. This is known to astronomers as opposition. This is also around the time that the two planets are closest to each other, meaning that Jupiter will appear brighter than any other time of the year.
Jupiter will be an easy object for stargazers to spot in the night sky as it will outshine every other planet and star. A telescope is not needed to see it, but peering through the eyepiece of a telescope will reveal its four largest moons, and perhaps even its famous red bands of clouds and the great red spot.
Folks looking for Jupiter in the night sky on or around June 10 can find it rising in the southeast around sunset and slowly track across the sky throughout the night before setting to the southwest. The night of June 16 and June 17 will also be a good time to look to the sky as the planet will be sitting right next to the full moon.
2. Summer Solstice
When: June 21
The sun will shine long and bright on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year for those north of the equator.
Summer officially begins on June 21 at 11:54 a.m. EDT in the Northern Hemisphere. For areas in the Southern Hemisphere, this will mark the official start to winter.
On the summer solstice, the sun’s rays are most direct over the Northern Hemisphere. People that look at their shadows at noon on this date will see their shortest shadow of the year.
After June 21, the days will slowly grow shorter across the Northern Hemisphere until the winter solstice on Dec. 21, 2019.
3. Viewing the Milky Way this summer
Although June features some of the shortest nights of the year, stargazers will have the chance to see a major celestial object not able to be seen during the long winter nights.
“Summertime is the the time to look for the Milky Way. What we refer to as the Milky Way is actually the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, which, of course, is the galaxy that Earth belongs to,” AccuWeather Astronomy Blogger Dave Samuhel said.
“During the winter months, the center of the galaxy is on the other side of the sun, so the brightness of the sun prevents us from seeing it. But, for the summer months of June through August, it rises a little earlier every night. By the end of the summer it's visible mostly during the evening hours,” Samuhel explained.
The Milky Way over Uruguay. (Photo/Philippe Donn)
However, in many areas, the Milky Way is not visible to the naked eye due to light pollution. A report from 2016 estimates that 99% of the population in Europe and the United States live under light-polluted skies.
To see the Milky Way, onlookers need to head to an area far away from city lights. It is also important to let your eyes adjust to the dark. It may take 15 to 30 minutes for your eyes to fully adjust to the dark, revealing the incredible sight of the Milky Way.
Looking back at May
Stargazers were surprised by what the night sky had to offer on a few occasions during May. There were a few outbursts of the Northern Lights, which glowed bright in the night sky during the middle and latter part of May in Canada and the northern United States.
A few fireballs, or incredibly bright meteors, were also spotted around the globe, including one over Australia on May 21.
Stargazers were able to enjoy the first meteor shower since January in early May during the peak of the Eta Aquarids. This is also the last major meteor shower until later in the summer.
The last blue moon of the decade rose on May 18, but it wasn’t a typical blue moon. Many think of a blue moon as being the second full moon in a calendar month, but May’s blue moon fell under the alternate definition of the third of four full moons in one season.
Meanwhile, NASA made several announcements about the agency’s plan to return humans to the surface of the moon. This included naming the moon landing program after the Greek God ‘Artemis,’ the twin sister of Apollo.
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