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The Moon and Planets in June 2010


The Major Planets in June 2010

Mars and Saturn are visible during the earlier part of the evening in June. Mars and the asteroid Vesta will be quite close, moving on parallel paths. Venus will become a little higher in the early evening sky.

Jupiter is obvious in the morning sky to the northeast and passes very close to Uranus. Mercury will be well placed for viewing in the morning sky an hour or so before sunrise at first but will disappear into the twilight in the second part of the month.

A partial eclipse of the moon is visible from New Zealand and Australia on the evening of June 26.
Mercury Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto

The planets in 2010: geocentric events and conjunctions Apparent sizes of the Planets in 2010

Bright Asteroids Jovian Satellites Saturn's Titan Artificial Satellites

Orbital diagrams for the inner planets November 2009 to March 2010,  April to July 2010,   and the outer planets for 2010.

Date (NZDT) Diary of Solar System Events in June 2010 for New Zealand
June 1 Saturn and Neptune both stationary.
June 4 Moon at apogee, its greatest distance from the Earth for the Lunar month, 404267 km.
June 5 Moon at last quarter 10:13pm NZST (Jun 4, 22:13 UT).
June 6 42% lit waning Moon, 8.5° to left of Jupiter, and Uranus, morning sky.
June 7 32% lit waning Moon, 9.5° below Jupiter and Uranus, morning sky.
June 7 Mars 50' from Regulus, magnitude 1.4, early evening sky.
June 8 & 9 Venus 4.7° from Pollux, magnitude 1.2, brightest star in Gemini. Low, early evening sky.
June 9 Jupiter less than half a degree from Uranus, morning sky.
June 11 3.5% lit crescent moon, 6.5° to lower left of Mercury, magnitude -0.5, very low in dawn sky.
June 12 New Moon at 11:15pm NZST (11:15 UT), moon furthest north, so lowest southern hemisphere transit for the month.
With the Pleiades now rising in the dawn sky, this is the Matariki New Moon celebrated on June 14 when the New Moon becomes visible.
June 15 10% lit crescent Moon, 3° to upper left of Venus, low to northwest following sunset.
June 16 Moon at perigee, its closest to the Earth for the lunar month, 365 933km.
June 17 28% lit Moon, 7° from Mars, and 3.75° from Regulus, magnitude 1.4, evening sky.
June 19 Moon at first quarter 4.30pm NZST (04:30 UT).
June 19 51% lit Moon 7° from Saturn, evening sky.
June 21 73% lit Moon 3.6° from Spica, magnitude 1.1, evening sky.
June 21 Southern winter solstice, sun furthest north, at 11:29 pm NZST.
June 24 95% lit Moon 2.5° from Antares, magnitude 1.1, brightest star in Scorpius.
June 25 Moon furthest south, so highest southern hemisphere transit for the month.
June 26 Pluto at opposition.
June 26 Full Moon at 11.30pm NZST (11:30 UT).    Partial eclipse of the moon, all phases visible from NZ. About 50% of the moon in the total shadow at maximum.
June 28 Mercury at superior conjunction.

Diary events derived from Dave Herald's OCCULT 4

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Mercury in June MERCURY will rise a good 2 hours before the Sun at the beginning of June so will be quite an easy object rather low to the northeast an hour before sunrise. With a magnitude close to 0 it will be the brightest start like object to the northeast.

During June Mercury will brighten but it will also be moving towards the Sun, so that it will rise later and closer to the time of sunrise. It will move from Aries into Taurus on the morning of June 6 and move across the constellation so that by mid June it will lie between Aldebaran and the Pleiades. Mercury will then have a magnitude -0.8 noticeably brighter than the star's 1.0 magnitude. By mid June the planet will rise about 75 minutes before the Sun, so will be low, in a direction a little to the east of northeast as the dawn sky brightens.

Mercury will continue to move towards the Sun for the rest of June, so will become lost to view in the morning twilight. It reaches superior conjunction with the Sun just before the end of the month, when it will pass the Sun on the opposite side to the Earth.

The moon will be at its closest to Mercury on the morning of June 11 when the crescent moon, only 3.5% lit, will be some 6° to the lower left of Mercury. Both will be low in the dawn sky. The moon will be close to occulting many of the stars in the Pleiades, but most of the events will occur after sunrise.

Venus in June VENUS will continue to move a little higher into the evening sky during June, setting more than three hours after the Sun by the end of the month. It will be prominent in the early evening sky low to the northwest.

The planet will be in Gemini during early June, but will move into Cancer on June 13. It will cross the latter constellation during the rest of June, to enter Leo on the last day of June.

On June 9, Venus will be less than 5° to the upper left of Pollux, at magnitude 1.2 the brightest star in Gemini. On the 15th the 10% lit crescent moon will be 3° to the upper left of Venus.

Mars in June MARS will set close to 11pm on June 1, and half an hour earlier by the end of the month. So it will be best placed for observation early evening. It is in Leo all month passing Regulus on the 7th, when Mars will be slightly brighter than the star and about 45' below it. This is 1.5 times the diameter of the full moon. They will make a fine pair for a few days either side of the date with the changing position of Mars evident from night to night.

The minor planet Vesta will be to the lower right of Mars during June, with the two closing in slightly during the month. By the 30the they will be about 5.5° apart. Vesta will be magnitude 7.7 to 7.9 in June, and easily visible in binoculars.

The chart shows the paths of Mars and Vesta through Leo during June. They are shown in their positions on June 17, when the moon will be about 7° from Mars. The chart is orientated to show the sky to the northwest as it appears about 7 pm. The circle represents a field of view 5° in diameter, similar to that of many binoculars. Stars to magnitude 8 are shown, slightly fainter than Vesta.

Mars and Vesta in June

Jupiter in June JUPITER will rise a little before 2am on June 1 and by about midnight at the end of the month. The planet is in Pisces throughout June.

During June, Jupiter will pass Uranus, with the two less than half a degree apart on the morning of June 9. The conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus in 2010 will be similar to that of Jupiter and Neptune in 2009. Thus Jupiter will move past Uranus on three occasions, the second during its period of retrograde motion, the last time in early January 2011

The chart shows the paths of the two planets during the month, with the planets shown at their closest. The chart is orientated to show the sky to the northeast about an hour before sunrise. Stars to magnitude 8 are shown.

Jupiter and Uranus in June

Saturn in June SATURN will still be visible in the evening sky during June, although it will set about midnight by the end of the month. So the best time for observing, when Saturn is highest, will be early evening. During June the planet is in Virgo, just over 25° to the left of Spica. It is slightly brighter than the star. By the end of the month, Mars will be 15° from Saturn on the opposite side to Spica.

The closest approach of the moon to Saturn is on the 19th, when the 51% lit moon will be just under 7° from the planet and to its upper left early evening.

Saturn's rings are still only open a slight amount, so will generally appear as a bar either side of the planet in a small telescope. Viewing at high power will show the rings.
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