Sky and Telescope - June 2018 - 44

JUNE 2018 OBSERVING
Planetary Almanac

PLANET VISIBILITY: Mercury: visible at dusk after the 15th * Venus: visible at dusk *
Mars: rises late evening, highest before dawn * Jupiter: visible at dusk, highest before midnight *
Saturn: rises early evening, visible until dawn

Mercury

June 1

11

30

21

June Sun & Planets

Venus
Date

Declination

Elongation

Magnitude

Diameter

Illumination

Distance

1

4h

34.4m

+21° 59′

-

-26.8

31′ 33″

-

1.014

30

6h

34.5m

+23° 12′

-

-26.8

31′ 28″

-

1.017

1

4h

08.1m

+20° 49′

6° Mo

-1.7

5.1″

97%

1.305

11

5h 41.7m

+24° 48′

6° Ev

-1.7

5.2″

97%

1.303

21

7h 10.2m

+24° 27′

17° Ev

-0.7

5.7″

79%

1.185

30

8h 13.9m

+21° 23′

23° Ev

-0.2

6.5″

63%

1.040

1

7h

04.2m

+24° 31′

34° Ev

-3.9

13.1″

80%

1.271

11

7h 55.1m

+22° 51′

37° Ev

-4.0

13.9″

77%

1.204

21

8h 43.8m

+20° 11′

39° Ev

-4.0

14.7″

74%

1.134

30

9h 25.4m

+17° 04′

40° Ev

-4.1

15.6″

70%

1.068

1

20h

32.8m

-21° 47′

125° Mo

-1.2

15.3″

91%

0.612

16

20h

47.0m

-21° 57′

136° Mo

-1.7

18.0″

94%

0.521

30

20h 50.9m

-22° 47′

149° Mo

-2.1

20.7″

96%

0.453

1

14h 53.0m

-15° 16′

155° Ev

-2.5

44.1″

100%

4.468

30

14h 44.6m

-14° 46′

125° Ev

-2.3

41.5″

99%

4.746

1

18h

32.2m

-22° 21′

153° Mo

+0.2

18.2″

100%

9.153

30

18h

23.4m

-22° 29′

177° Ev

0.0

18.4″

100%

9.050

Uranus

16

1h

57.1m

+11° 24′

53° Mo

+5.9

3.4″

100%

20.474

Neptune

16

-6° 19′

98° Mo

+7.9

2.3″

100%

29.778

Sun
1

16

30

Mercury

Mars

1

16

30

Venus

Jupiter

Mars

16

Jupiter

Saturn

Saturn
16
Uranus

Neptune

PLANET DISKS have south up, to match the
view in many telescopes. Blue ticks indicate the
pole currently tilted toward Earth.

2h

4h

RIGHT

0h
22h
ASCENSION

Uranus

+10°

DECLINATION

-20°

OPHIUCHUS

- 40°

CA NCE R

Regulus

VIRGO

+10°
Betelgeuse

Procyon

6

CETUS

EQUATOR

AQU ARIU S

Neptune
E R IDA NUS

16

19

9

Saturn
Mars

Fomalhaut

LOCAL TIME OF TRANSIT
10 am
8 am
6 am

CAPRICORNU S
SAGITTARIUS

4 am

2 am

-10°

23

June
27 - 28

0°
ORION

LIBRA

June 3
-30°

+20°

AQU ILA

TA U R U S

6h

GEMINI
Castor
+30°
Pollux
Mercury

Venus

LEO

Arcturus

HERCULES

PEGASUS

8h

10 h

BOÖTES

ARIES
PISCES

-10°

12h

14h

Vega
CYGNUS

Pleiades

Rigel

16 h

18 h

20 h

+30°

0°

23h 10.8m

The table above gives each object's right ascension and declination (equinox 2000.0) at 0h Universal Time on selected dates,
and its elongation from the Sun in the morning (Mo) or evening (Ev) sky. Next are the visual magnitude and equatorial diameter.
(Saturn's ring extent is 2.27 times its equatorial diameter.) Last are the percentage of a planet's disk illuminated by the Sun and
the distance from Earth in astronomical units. (Based on the mean Earth-Sun distance, 1 a.u. is 149,597,871 kilometers, or
92,955,807 international miles.) For other dates, see skyandtelescope.com/almanac.

10"

+40°

Right Ascension

Spica

CORVUS

Jupiter

H Y D R A

CANIS
MAJOR

Sirius

E C L I P T I C Antares

-30°

SCO RPI US

Midnight

10 pm

8 pm

6 pm

4 pm

2 pm

The Sun and planets are positioned for mid-June; the colored arrows show the motion of each during the month. The Moon is plotted for evening dates in the Americas when it's waxing (right side
illuminated) or full, and for morning dates when it's waning (left side). "Local time of transit" tells when (in Local Mean Time) objects cross the meridian - that is, when they appear due south and at
their highest - at mid-month. Transits occur an hour later on the 1st, and an hour earlier at month's end.

44

J U N E 2 018 * SK Y & TELESCOPE

-20°

- 40°
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/almanac
Sky and Telescope - June 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky and Telescope - June 2018
