June2015 - Recommended Astronomical Observation

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The month of June sees the celestial action heat up come sundown, as the planet Jupiter closes in on Venus in the dusk sky. Both are already brilliant beacons at magnitudes -1.5 and -4 respectively, and it’s always great to catch a meeting of the two brightest planets in the sky.
Be sure to follow Venus and Jupiter through June, as they close in on each other at a rate of over ½ a degree—that’s more than the diameter of a Full Moon—per day.
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Ref: universetoday

So, on June 15 if one is sufficiently distant from obscuring city lights, . . . and DonDiego recommends one should always be distant from city lights excepting short visits to those densely-populated hellholes of iniquity, . . . this is what one might observe in the western sky shortly after sunset - Venus, Jupiter, and the Moon in close proximity:



But wait ! It gets better. On the evening of June30-July1 Venus and Jupiter snuggle up to less than half-a-degree apart, less than the disc of the moon as viewed from earth:



DonDiego wishes clear skies to all who wish to observe this phenomenon.

For about 25 years of my life, I lived far away from the city lights, and viewing the stars was outstanding. I'm now a suburban dweller, which I enjoy, but I can't see the stars so well nowadays.

We will be in S Lake Tahoe for the late June viewing. We're going to be on top of a mountain, not sure about the lights up there, but will keep an eye out.


"...when jup-i-terr aligns with mars..."

Not surprising that big old gasbag Jupiter would try to make a move on that little hottie Venus.

It'll be ok as long as Jupiter stays away from Uranus.

Get real, alanleroy. EVERYONE stays away from Uranus, because it’s just too far away. The daily commute from there would be a bitch.

I’m seriously considering moving to Venus. I just read that the average surface temperature there is over 800 degrees Fahrenheit. So, like, you could put your frozen pizza out on the porch, and it’d be ready to eat in maybe 4 or 6 minutes. That’s what I call convenience.

OK, I suppose the air conditioning bills would be steep, but still, if you eat a lot of frozen pizza . . .

DonDiego can hardly wait until the year 2620 !

"Urectum is the name the planet Uranus was changed to in 2620 to avoid people making the 'your anus' joke."
Ref: Futurama Wiki

Just a reminder of the June 30 conjunction of Jupiter and Venus.

Star of Bethlehem?

"Sky & Telescope suggests that a similar rare conjunction of Venus and Jupiter may have been what's been called the "Star of Bethlehem" in 3-2 BC. There has not been a brighter, closer planetary conjunction in the 2,000 years since."

Should be a good show on Tuesday.

It's a bit after 21:00 EDT Sunday June 28th up heh' in Appalachia.

The weather's cleared and gotten pleasantly cooler so poor old DonDiego stepped out to check the skies.

DonDiego just looked to the west and saw Venus and Jupiter already noticeably close in the not-yet-completely-dark sky. And he turned left to check out the Moon already shining brightly and noticed Saturn just to the right and slightly below and very close indeed to the Moon.

A great time to teach one's kids a little about astronomy if'n they're interested, . . . which they pr'bly are not what with all the electronic playthings monopolizing their attention.