June 2005

Like a roller coaster near the top of a hill, the sun slows to a crawl every June as it arcs through the highest part of its path across the sky. The summer solstice arrives at 1:48 a.m. CDT on the 21st, when the sun grazes a point directly over the Tropic of Cancer. The solstice marks the longest day of the year, but due to irregularities in Earth's orbit, we experience the earliest sunrise around the 15th and the latest sunset around the 26th. Even when the sun is down, June twilights last a long time and its night skies lack the deep dark of winter.

June's biggest show starts an hour after sunset late in the month, when Venus, Saturn and Mercury hover close together above the western horizon. Venus, the brightest of the three, comes out first, in the west-northwest. During the third week of June, Saturn glides down from the upper left of Venus and Mercury climbs up from the lower right. On the 25th, the three planets form a tight group, with the Gemini stars Pollux and Castor a short distance to the upper right. On the 27th, Venus and Mercury pass one-fifth of a full moon's width from each other, forming one of the closest planetary pairs we'll ever see. Saturn keeps on moving and disappears into the sunset by month's end, while Venus and Mercury take their time separating.

When those planets have set, Jupiter, in Virgo, takes over as monarch of the evening. The bright star below and east of Jupiter is Spica, which represents a kernel of grain held by the virgin. Southeast of Spica, Scorpius rears its head and its red heart, the giant star Antares. High in the south, Bootes, the herdsman, looks like a kite with brilliant Arcturus anchoring the tail. Just east of Bootes hangs Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown.

In the morning sky, Mars really cranks up the wattage. Rising around 1 a.m., the red planet is getting close enough to Earth that a good telescope may pick out some martian features. But the best viewing conditions won't happen till near dawn, after Mars has gained a bit of altitude.

The full moon arrives at 11:14 p.m. on the 21st less – than two hours after rising, so it will be quite round as it climbs into the pale sky. June's full moon was called the strawberry moon by every Algonquin Indian tribe. Other names include the rose moon and flower moon (sometimes applied to May's full moon). A crescent moon sits to the lower right of Venus on the 7th and above it on the 8th. On the 29th, a waning moon rises near Mars. A new moon occurs on the 6th.