By Pat Beers Block
Welcome star gazers to this month’s highlights of celestial events visible in Fluvanna County!
Fun events to view in June
Discovering other celestial events can be a fun diversion from the tracking of stars and planets as they revolve in their orbits and trajectories. So let’s look at what the Japanese space company, ispace inc, is planning for June. In early June, the ispace craft known as Resilience will be delivering its payload of a lunar lander and rover on the moon that will conduct three specialized experiments including a water electrolyzer experiment; an algae based food production experiment; and a deep space radiation monitor. The water electrolyzer project is being done to determine the feasibility of extracting oxygen (for breathing) and hydrogen (for fuel) from lunar water resources. The second experiment involves the use of a self contained module that will attempt to grow algae. The third experiment will search deep space radiation levels via a specialized probe built for this purpose. Results of these experiments will be something we can track over the next several years.
This month, there will be conjunctions (remote objects visually appear close to one another) and planetary and star occultations (one object briefly overshadows another celestial object) to observe. Throughout the month of June, with June 27th being its peak, the Bootids meteor shower might appear in the early morning sky; Look to the west and north for meteor activity. The June full moon has an interesting and logical colloquial name, and we get to enjoy the summer solstice when the Northern hemisphere experiences the longest daylight of the year!
Hopefully some of these events capture your interest and motivate you to spend time observing the night and early morning dark sky this month. So let’s get ready to engage in observing these events by setting up your star gazing equipment, charging your cell phones and linking to Sky Guide, Sky View Lite, or any other star gazing applications that you find useful, and settling into your favorite viewing spot to witness the magic of the night and early morning skies!
Weeks 1 (June 1- 7)
One June 1, the moon will be in conjunction with both Mars, and the star Regulus of the constellation Leo, albeit at different times this night. This same combination of events occurs again on June 29. The conjunction can be seen in the western sky.
The moon enters its first quarter on June 2. The moon will appear illuminated on the right half of its surface.
On June 6, the moon will be in conjunction with the star Spica, the brightest star within the constellation Virgo.
Week 2 (June 8-14)
On June 10, the moon is in conjunction with the star Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius.
The full moon appears on June 11 within the constellation Ophiuchus ( known as the Serpent Bearer and found between the constellations Hercules and Scutum). This moon bares the colloquial name of the Strawberry Moon, so named by Native Americans because of the emergence of strawberries at this time of the year.
Week 3 (June 15-21)
On June 16, Mars remains in conjunction with star Regulus within the constellation Leo.
The moon moves into its last quarter phase on June 18. The moon will be illuminated on the left half of its surface.
The premium event of June, the summer solstice, occurs on June 20 when the maximum tilt of Earth’s North Pole towards the Sun allows the Sun to shine for the longest time of the year on the Northern Hemisphere.
On June 21 the planet Mercury will be in conjunction with the star Pollux within the constellation Gemini.
Weeks 4- 5 (June 22-30)
The last week in June has multiple events. These include the conjunction of the moon with the star cluster Pleiades (aka Seven Sisters), and the presence of the moon and Venus on June 22. The new moon phase will occur on June 25 at which time the moon will no longer be visible except as a ghost-like sphere in the sky. The conjunction of the moon with the planet Mercury and the Beehive Star Cluster (Messier 44) occurs on June 27, along with the possible presence of meteor activity from the Bootids meteor shower.
Bootids, a Variable Class III meteor shower, tends to be somewhat unpredictable as to the number of meteors that might appear in the night sky. The formal data maintained by the International Meteor Organization about this shower suggests that from 2-10 meteors might appear per hour. However, there have been instances when no meteors have been seen, and other times when to up to 40 meteors an hour rate were observed. The shower will be most visible from June 25-29, with the peak expected to be on June 27.
In Summary…
So ends the celestial highlights of June. A quick update on last month’s discovery of the comet SWAN25 F2 is worth mentioning at this time. SWAN continues to travel through the sky and at times can be visible on Earth. For information about the location of SWAN25 F2, you can visit THESKYLIVE.com website and follow the adventures of this newly discovered comment.
Beyond these noted events, it is worth exploring celestial stories and events that are posted on NASA’s homepage, and visiting websites that provide information about space rocket and satellite launches, the travels of the ISS, and aurora borealis flare-ups that might be visible in Fluvanna county.
With the perpetual motion of planets and stars, the daily changing sky promises to entertain you for a lifetime! Until next month, keep your eyes facing the morning and evening sky to see the wonders of our universe as we Earthlings travel through it!
[information has been extracted from Astronomy Calendar of Celestial Events 2025 – Sea and Sky (seasky.org); https://eclispe.gsfc.nasa.gov; https://highpointscientific.com/astronomy-hub; https://amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers; https://starwalk.space; https://spacetourismguide.com; Wikipedia; https://SkyatNightMagazine.com; theskylive.com]
