Rare visitors adds to the excitement
THE nights are now very short, with the 21st being the longest day, but there is still lots of fascinating happenings in the June night sky, including three planets visible.
The map is for 11pm on June 15 and will cover most of the evening's major events.
On the northern horizon you will find Perseus, the hero, and next to him Auriga, the charioteer, with its bright star Capella showing well. The north-western horizon shows the top half of Gemini the twins, followed by Cancer with its lovely Bee Hive cluster. This is all enhanced by Venus (very bright).
Due west is Leo, with the planet Mars just by Regulas, glowing bright red. And just by Leo's tail you will spot Saturn, a beautiful site with the rings showing nicely. Above Leo is our favourite signpost, the Plough (Ursa Major). Follow the pointers past Draco's tail to the tip of the little bears tail (Ursa Minor), which is Polaris (the pole star), and follow the handle down to Arcturus, the brightest star in Bootes the herdsman, and then onto Spica, the brightest star in Virgo.
Due south is a rare visitor, the top of Scorpio, the scorpion, and between him and Virgo, the constellation of Libra the scales, but once the claws of the scorpion! In the south-east you will see Hercules, with its beautiful globular cluster, and Corona Borealis.
In the east is the whole of the Summer Triangle, consisting of Deneb in Cygnus and Vega in the Lyra and Altair in Aquila. And finally, in the north-east just rising is Andromeda, directly below the W of Cassiopeia.
The Moon is new on the 12th and full on the 26th. Keep an eye out for noctilucent clouds, amazing bright electric coloured clouds visible after sunset, that live 50 miles up, best seen in the northern sky. There are no major meteor showers this month, but you may catch the odd one.
For more information, look at our web site www.sigma-astro.co.uk or contact me, Ian Brantingham, at ian@branters.freeserve.co.uk, Tel 01466 771371.
Thanks to Chris Peat at www.heavens-above.com for the use of his star maps.
