June 2006

by Deane Morrison

If you've never seen the Beehive star cluster, or even if you have, here comes a great chance to catch it in the company of luminaries. Through most of June, the Beehive consorts with the likes of Saturn, Mars and a thin crescent moon. Though Jupiter and the summer stars occupy center stage, June's real drama plays out near the sky's western curtain, where the Beehive hovers before making its yearly exit.

A fuzzy patch of light in the west, the Beehive resolves into a striking array of stars when seen through binoculars. During the first week in June, Saturn passes through the southern reaches of the cluster. Then Mars outdoes its planetary companion by gliding right through the middle; look on the 15th to see it surrounded by stars of the Beehive. On the 17th, Mars and Saturn have their closest approach, and on the 27th and 28th, a crescent moon comes calling on the cluster and the two planets. Around mid-month Mercury appears to the far lower right of the group, but it may be too close to the horizon to be seen.

To the south, Jupiter holds court among several bright stars, all outshone by the king of planets. West of Jupiter, Spica marks an ear of grain held by Virgo. North of Jupiter, brilliant Arcturus anchors kite-shaped Bootes, the herdsman, as it floats near the top of the celestial dome. To the southeast of Jupiter, the sinuous form of Scorpius crawls into the sky. Its red heart, Antares, completes the assortment of bright objects in the south.

Higher up, Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, separates Bootes from the kneeling, upside-down form of Hercules. Below the crown is Serpens Cauda, the head of a snake held by Ophiuchus, the snake handler. To the east, the Milky Way hangs like a veil along the horizon. In and near the Milky Way, the stars of the Summer Triangle--Deneb, Vega and Altair--are wheeling into prominence.

As dawn approaches, Venus rises in the east. Keeping our sister planet company is a second famous star cluster, the Pleiades. On the 22nd and 23rd, early birds may watch a waning crescent moon rise near the stars and planet.

June's full moon was called the strawberry moon by every Algonquin Indian tribe. Also known as the rose moon, it arrives on the 11th and crosses the sky between Scorpius and the

Teapot of Sagittarius. A new moon on the 25th starts the next cycle.

Summer comes in at 7:30 a.m. on the 21st, just as the sun attains a point directly over the Tropic of Cancer. This is, of course, the solstice, a word that comes from the Latin for "sun standing still." The sun will remain near its highest point for another month, flooding the Northern Hemisphere with light and forcing astronomers to stay up late.