Events, Moon, Planets in June Home Page Evènements du mois Monthly Sky Charts

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.Events .Moon .Planets .Minor Planets, NEOs .Comets .Shooting Stars .Occultations .Sun .check more! (occultations observers are advised to check in 'Events', and to turn to such dedicated sites like the I.O.T.A). don't forget to check the weather! For the US: the NOAA . color codes: Wwd worldwide, UsA USA-Americas, EuA Europe-Africa, AsP Asia-Pacific, Chk Check for Your Zone. check the site's concept and the instructions of use

Editor's Choice Fine Picture Editor's Choice Sky At Tech News color codes: Wwd worldwide, UsA USA-Americas, EuA Europe-Africa, AsP Asia-Pacific, Chk Check for Your Zone. check the site's concept and the instructions of use

Events Home Page

.Events Seen All Month Long .Ephemerides Proper

(data from the former yearly ephemerides generator at Fred Espenak's NASA's eclipse website; miscellaneous data with the 'Astronomical Phenomena for The Year 2017,' a joint work by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office and the U.S. Naval Observatory; to be found at the latter's site; all time UT except otherwise stated)

Chk Regulus is a evening star in the northern hemisphere only as, in the southern hemisphere, some bright stars of the northern Great Winter Sky are

1 Wwd Une curiosité: les étoiles filantes Ariétides sont actives de fin mai à début juillet plus de détails

1 Wwd Moon reaches a southernmost declination at 07:09 UT

2 Wwd Moon is at its apogee at 16:34 UT (distances non available)

3 Wwd Moon is at a descending node at 12:39 UT

14 Wwd Moon is at its perigee at 23:55 UT (distances non available)

15 (1) UsA First crescent at all latitudes, is seen close to Venus a evening star. A fine show and fine visual and photographic opportunities, as the show is also available tomorrow!

15 (2) Wwd Moon reaches a northernmost declination at 00:52 UT

16 (1) EuA AsP First crescent by all latitudes, is seen close to Venus a evening star. A fine show and fine visual and photographic opportunities!

First crescent is seen by twilight close to Venus! A fine show! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium

16 (2) Wwd Moon is at a ascending node at 17:50 UT

21 Wwd The Summer Solstice occurs today at 10:07 UT. It's summer in the northern hemisphere, and winter South! see more about the seasons

23 Wwd Waxing gibbous Moon at all latitudes, is seen tonight close to Jupiter!

27 (1) UsA EuA Moon close to full, by all latitudes, is seen tonight close to Saturn

Moon close to full is close to Saturn tonight! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Stellarium

27 (2) Wwd There is a occultation of minor planet Vesta today by Moon! check more at Occultations; check more too at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

28 (1)AsP Full Moon at all latitudes, is seen tonight close to Saturn

28 (2) Wwd Moon reaches a southernmost declination at 14:30 UT

30 Wwd Moon is at its apogee at 02:43 UT (distances non available) as it is too at a descending node, by 16:44 UT

Occultations observers are advised to turn to such dedicated sites like the I.O.T.A as they may also check below at our Occultation section

Moon Home Page

Last Quarter is on June 6th, at 18:32 UT
New Moon is on June 13th, at 19:43 UT
First Quarter is on June 20th, at 10:51 UT
Full Moon is on June 28th, at 04:53 UT

(source: ephemeris generator at Fred Espenak's NASA's eclipse website)

Planets Home Page

Mercury is reaching a Superior Conjunction at 01:53 on Jun. 6. Mercury is reappearing like a morning star by Jun. 20 as the show is at below 10 degree in the northern hemisphere, and mean at the Tropics and the southern hemisphere

Venus is now a fine evening star worldwide, as it is still well seable by 10:30 p.m. local time in the northern hemisphere

Mars Mars Observation Campaign!, at one month of its perihelic opposition, is now rising by midnight local time in the northern hemisphere. It is already risen by some 15 degree between East and southeast at the Tropics by that time, as, in the southern hemisphere, Mars is higher still, past East. A Mars Observation Campaign is unfolding 2018-2019 as it constitutes a remarkable, perihelic opposition, with Mars nearest to Earth at the same time it is nearest to the Sun on its orbit! Mars will reach a 24.2" of apparent diameter at its best as the observation campaign will span from when the Red Planet is reaching, then leaving 6" of apparent diameter! Don't miss those occasions of observing Mars! check more at our Mars Observation Campaign 2018-2019 page

Mars is now two months ahead its perihelic opposition next August! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Celestia

Jupiter Still At its Best! keeps at its best after a opposition last month. The gas giant is due South, high, in the northern hemisphere by 10:30 p.m. local time, much high, past South at the Tropics by that time, and northwest and much high in the southern hemisphere

Jupiter keeping at its best, after its opposition last month! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Celestia

Saturn At its Best Now! is reaching a opposition, or its year's best on June 27th by 12:25. check more about such a configuration of a planet in our tutorial 'Planets Apparent Motion'. Saturn by 10:30 p.m. local time in the northern hemisphere, has risen since few and seen about southeast. The ringed planet is seen very high, before southeast at the Tropics by that time, and very high, East, in the southern hemisphere. A ring maximum aperture had been reached in 2017

Saturn at its year's best now! Observe Saturn! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Celestia

Uranus is now rising by 3:00 a.m. local time in the northern hemisphere, 2:55 at the Tropics, and 3:25 in the southern hemisphere

Neptune is now rising by 1:35 a.m. local time in the northern hemisphere, 0:10 a.m. at the Tropics, and midnight in the southern hemisphere

Pluto Tending to its Best! is one month ahead of its opposition. Pluto is now rising by 10:50 p.m. local time in the northern hemisphere. It is already high, before southeast at the Tropics by that same time, and also very high, East, in the southern hemisphere. Pluto in 2018 is reaching a rare 'special' opposition as the latter will occur because the planet will reach its orbit's line of node. (according to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) since 2006, Pluto is not considered a planet anymore, but categorized like a dwarf planet instead along with Ceres, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea, and the prototype of a new category of 'trans-Neptunian', 'Pluto-class' objects)

Pluto tending to its best, with a opposition next month! picture site 'Amateur Astronomy' based upon Celestia

Minor Planets, NEOs Home Page

.Minor Planets .Nearest NEOs

Minor Planets

Minor planets are those biggest asteroids in the Asteroid Belt which may be easily observed by amateurs from the Earth, namely Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta (due to the new categorization by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) by 2006, Ceres belongs to the 5 dwarf planets in the solar system with Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea). check data and charts at our section Minor Planets on the yearly Calendar page as our tutorial 'Asteroids and Asteroid Hunting' is of help too. Any remarkable event linked to a minor planet may have a notice here below

Vesta is reaching its opposition by June 19th, at the 5.3th magnitude. more about Vesta in 2018 at our "Minor Planets in 2018"

Nearest NEOs

Some small asteroids dubbed Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are regularly making close approaches at Earth. People interested in such close approaches may obtain recent and upcoming data at NASA site Near-Earth Object Program (their section "Close Approaches"). Date, miss distance in AU or Lunar Distance (LD), estimated diameter, and relative velocity are available. For further observational purposes, check at the Near-Earth Object Program ephemeris Generator. For more about NEOs see tutorial "About NEOs"

Comets Home Page

Once every time, the solar system treats us with a remarkable comet, a eery view spanning up to thirty degrees of sky! Most of the time however comets are the domain of dedicated observers as mostly weak and, at the most, hovering at the limit of the naked-eye visibility. A good site to get information about current such comets is the British Astronomical Association Comet Section page or also the Weekly Information about Bright Comets page (which often points to comets close to the visual magnitude). Our 'Comets and Comet Hunting' tutorial will also be helpful. Remarkable comets otherwise usually will be presented below!

Shooting Stars Home Page

->note: shooting stars afficionados will be aware of checking Moon at the dates of the showers

• Curious? Arietids back are active late May-early July as they are daytime meteors, which means they are active during the day as none are seen at night. Their radiant is in constellation Aries, the Ram broadly as they might have like an originator sungrazing asteroid 1566 Icarus. They have a wopping hourly rate of the thousands
• Shooting stars afficionados may turn to such dedicated sites like IMO, The International Meteor Organization for more about the above and about possible minor showers this month

for more about the meteor showers of this month, for possible other meteor showers for this month, and for more about shooting stars, generally, see our tutorial "Shooting Stars"

Occultations Home Page

Each month, Moon occults some relatively bright stars, that is the Moon, beginning either with its bright or its dark visible face, is passing in front of a star. This is called an occultation. The Pleiades, on the other hand, due to their position near the eclipic, are often occulted by Moon too. Some planets, at last, along the year, may be occulted by Moon or they themselves, or their satellites, may be seen too occulting a star. The asteroids too may occult stars. Yearly lists of such phenomenons are to be found at Sky & Telescope/SkyTonight.com, either in their newsstand issues or at their site, as a list of occultations of most brilliant stars, the planets and the Pleiades are available at the I.O.T.A site (I.O.T.A. stands for "The International Occultation Timing Association"). Most notable occultations are signaled below

Minor planet Vesta back is occulted by Moon on Jun. 27th, 2018 by 09:00 UT! The show is available for Micronesia, Kiribati, northern French Polynesia, southern Mexico, Central America, Galapagos Islands. check more at such sites like "The International Occultation Timing Association" (I.O.T.A.)

check on this site for more about occultations, theoretically

Sun Home Page

click to last Sun