June Stargazing

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June 2010
The short nights of June offer a panoply of beautiful astronomical alignments. Mars slips past Regulus, the brightest star of Leo, early in the month, with Venus moving past the twin stars of Gemini soon after. A partial lunar eclipse on the 26th rounds out one of the best skywatching months of the year.

This Week's Stargazing Tips
June 1, 2010
The stars that mark the heads of Hercules and Ophiuchus stand close together in the east this evening. Each bears an Arabic name that means "the head." In Hercules, it's Ras Algethi (head of the kneeler); in Ophiuchus, Ras Alhague (head of the serpent charmer).

June 2, 2010
The Northern Cross is one of the highlights of the summer evening sky. Look toward the northeast around 10 p.m. for six stars that form a cross that is lying on its side. The brightest star, which stands at the top of the cross, is Deneb.

June 3, 2010
The giant planets Jupiter and Uranus are in the southeast at dawn. Jupiter looks like a brilliant star. Much-fainter Uranus is just to its upper left. Through binoculars, it looks like a faint blue-green star.

June 4, 2010
The planet Saturn poses high in the southwest as darkness falls this month. It looks like a bright golden star. A telescope reveals its best-known feature: its beautiful rings.

June 5, 2010
The planet Jupiter, which looks like a brilliant star, stands to the lower right of the Moon at first light tomorrow. From Jupiter, use binoculars to scan a bit toward the Moon for the planet Uranus, which looks like a tiny blue-green star.

June 6, 2010
Regulus, the brightest star of Leo, the lion, is well up in the western sky as darkness falls. Tonight, bright orange Mars is just a little to the upper right of Regulus. Tomorrow night, it will stand directly above the star.

June 7, 2010
The planet Mars stands high in the western sky at nightfall. It looks like a bright orange star. And tonight it has an equally bright companion: Regulus, the brightest star of Leo, the lion, which stands just a whisker below the Red Planet.