Sky & Telescope - June 2022 - 46

JUNE 2022 OBSERVING
Sun, Moon & Planets by Gary Seronik
To find out what's
visible in the sky from
your location, go to
skyandtelescope.org.
All Planets on Deck
The solar system is neatly arrayed across the dawn sky this month.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1
When May wrapped up, Mars and Jupiter
were enjoying a close conjunction
that climaxed on May 29th with the two
planets a touch more than one Moon
diameter apart. The gap between them
has been growing ever since, and as June
begins they remain eye-catchingly close.
This morning, slightly less than 2° separates
Mars from Jupiter. There's quite a
brightness mismatch, however. Jupiter
gleams brilliantly at magnitude -2.3
while Mars is +0.7 - respectably bright,
but still some 16 times fainter than Big
Jove. This morning's pairing is part of a
wonderful dawn planet parade that lasts
all month.
FRIDAY, JUNE 3
All's quiet on the dusk horizon this
month, at least so far as planetary
action is concerned. But that doesn't
mean there's nothing to see. This evening,
look to the west as twilight fades
to catch the crescent Moon parked
about 5° to the right of the Beehive
Cluster, M44. You'll have to use binoculars
to appreciate this sight. The wide
perspective presented by 7×50s is ideal
since they offer a field of view of about
7°, which is what you need to squeeze in
both objects. Early June is a great time
to see the Beehive and Moon together
because that's when the Moon is a narrow
crescent in the evening sky; a fatter,
brighter Moon makes the cluster's
" bees " harder to see. Tonight, the Moon
is about 18% illuminated, which means
you should be able to catch earthshine
These scenes are drawn for near the middle
of North America (latitude 40° north, longitude
90° west). For clarity, the Moon is shown three
times its actual apparent size.
46
JUNE 2022 * SKY & TELESCOPE
on the " dark " portion of the lunar disk.
This is also the final observable evening
meeting between M44 and the Moon in
2022. All the more reason to look in.
SATURDAY, JUNE 4
This morning presents one of those
events that perhaps looks more impressive
on paper than it does in the sky.
At dawn, all five naked-eye planets are
arrayed from east to south along the
horizon. Yes, that's pretty remarkable,
but what's even more unusual is that
they appear in the same sequence in the
sky as they are in their orbits around
the Sun. In other words, scanning from
left to right, we have Mercury, Venus,
Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn creating
Dusk, June 1- 4
1 hour after sunset
Moon
June 4
an arc that spans 91° from Mercury to
Saturn. Such a configuration doesn't
happen very often. Indeed, it's been
about 100 years since a similarly compact
parade of planets graced our skies,
and you'll have to wait until 2041 to see
such an arrangement again.
This morning Mercury and Venus
are 18° apart; Venus and Mars are
separated by 30°; Mars is 4° from
Jupiter; and Saturn lies 39° west of
Jupiter. Certainly, that seems impressive,
so what's the catch? The problem
(as usual) is Mercury. The innermost
planet is not especially bright (magnitude
2.1), and it pops up in brightening
twilight to achieve an altitude of only
6½° at sunup. To claim Mercury in this
solar-system survey, you're going to
need an unobstructed eastern horizon
and binoculars.
Dawn, June 25 - 27
30 minutes before sunrise
Moon
June 3
10°
Pollux
Moon
June 2
GEMINI
CANIS
MINOR
Procyon
Moon
June 1
Moon
June 26
Moon
June 27
Looking West
TAURUS
Mercury
Venus
Castor
Pleiades
Moon
June 25
Aldebaran
Looking East
http://www.skyandtelescope.org
Sky & Telescope - June 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky & Telescope - June 2022
