In Manx skies... June 2010 ~ compiled by Dave Storey
New
12th
at
11.15h
First Quarter
19th
at 04.29h
Full
26th
at 11.30h
Last Quarter
4th
at 22.13h
Note: All times are Universal Time (UT)
There are no solar or lunar eclipses visible from the Isle of Man this month. On the 26th, a partial lunar eclipse occurs. Visible from the Pacific Ocean, Australia and New Zealand.
Solar activity remains low in visible light but sunspot activity has shown signs of increasing during the later parts of 2009 and early 2010.
WARNING: NEVER DIRECTLY OBSERVE THE SUN WITH YOUR NAKED EYES AND/OR OPTICAL INSTRUMENTATION: YOU WILL BE BLINDED!
Carrington's Solar Rotation number 2098 starts on the 16th at 04.48h.
Summer Solstice occurs on the 21st at 11.28hrs.
Is poorly placed for viewing from the Isle of Man. It is seen best from the tropics and southern skies in the dawn sky. The planet passes through superior conjunction (far side of the sun) on the 28th.
Is in the evening sky shining at a brilliant -4.0. At the beginning of the month, the planet sets at 23.30h, about 2h 50m after sunset. By months end, the planet will set 23.00h, which is 2hrs after sunset.
Through
a telescope the planet will display a small disc ranging from
13.0" to 15.4" and a phase that decreases from 80.9% to
71.2%
After sunset on the 14th, the crescent Moon will be seen about 6° to the lower right of Venus.
Is in Leo shining at +1.1 at
the start of the month and fading to +1.3 by the end of the month.
The planet is too far away now from earth to get a decent view of
the surface details. The disc of the planet is now less than 6 arc
seconds.
On the 7th, the planet comes to within 1° of the
bright star Regulus in Leo. Of the two, Regulus will be slightly
fainter at magnitude +1.4 compared to Mars' magnitude of +1.2
Asteroids
The
first asteroid to be discovered, Ceres reaches opposition on
the 17th when it will be found in Sagittarius shining at
+7.2. During the first week of June, Ceres will pass just
south of the Lagoon
Nebula, M8 and this will be a good time to locate this
dwarf planet. Use the chart left to identify the "star
like" object slowly creeping passed the nebula.
Is a morning object in Pisces, Shining at -2.4. At the beginning of the month, it rises 2hrs before sunrise at 01.40hrs. At the end of June, it will rise just before 00hrs about 3 and 3/4hrs before sunrise.
On the 8th at 08.42hrs, Jupiter is in conjunction with the planet Uranus. The minimum separation being 26 arc seconds. You will need a telescope to see this event in the dawn sky before sunrise as the sky will be bright.
Is
in the constellation Virgo, shining at +1.0 and fading
slightly by months end to +1.1.
The rings of Saturn are at a shallow angle, from+1.7° to +2.1°.
The north side of the rings are on view.
The moon Titan is west of the planet 5th ,6th ,7th , 8th 21st ,22nd ,23rd , 24th . It will be east on 13th 14th ,15th ,16th ,29th and 30th.
Is a morning object in Pisces close to Jupiter. Due to the brightness of the dawn sky, it will be poorly seen this month.
Is in the morning sky in Aquarius, shining at a dim +7.9. At the start of the month, it rises at 00.47hrs and at 22.53hrs at the end of the month.
Pluto reaches opposition (Opposite the sun in the sky) on the 25th, Shining at a very dim +14.2, so a telescope of reasonable size will be required to glimpse this dwarf planet. It passes just north of Messier 24 and this may help in identifying the planet.
Ophiuchids are active from 19th May through July with two maximums occurring on the 10th and 20th June. Activity is low when a Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) of 5 may be seen. The shower is poorly placed for viewing from the UK and best viewed from the southern hemisphere. The radiants are at RA 17h56m Dec. -23° and RA 17h20m Dec. -20°.
Date Time ZC# SAO# Magnitude. P.A. Type of event. Notes
23rd 22.33:57 2286 183982 5.4 091 DD V913 Sco.
28th 23.41:11 2987 163614 4.9 248 RD rho
Cap.
Times
are UT as seen from IoMAS Observatory. Start to observe these
events about 20 minutes before the above times to allow for
differences in your latitude and longitude. This will give you
time to locate the star that is about to be occulted.
ZC = Zodiacal Catalogue. Type of Event DD = disappearance at dark limb, RD = Reappearance at dark limb. RB = Reappearance on bright limb. PA = Position Angle around limb of the Moon, where 0 degrees is north, 90 degrees is east, 180 degrees is south and 270 degrees is west.
This
star drops from magnitude +2.1 to +3.4 in about 5 hours. Suitable
dates when the eclipse maximum can be observed from the Isle of
Man are on 20th
at
00.18h.
Click
Here for star chart.
Two comets may be seen this month but the summer twilight skies will make observing them a challenge.
This
comet was discovered in 1873 by William Tempel from Milan, Italy.
It will attain a magnitude of around +8.3 by the end of the month,
so a reasonable size telescope should pick it up. Click
here for ephemeris.
It
will be seen crossing the northern horizon through Andromeda,
Perseus and Auriga. At the start of the month, it will be around
magnitude +8.0 and will brighten during the month to +4.6 by
months end. So this should be a binocular object at least. Will it
be visible to the naked eye in the twilight skies in the
north?Click here for ephemeris.
Discovered by Robert McNaught on 10th September 2009 and this was his 51st comet discovery. It reaches closest position to the sun on 2nd July.
The international Space Station crosses the Manx skies on a regular basis. For the latest information on when the ISS is due to pass across the sky over the next ten days, visit the link below.
Noctilucent
Clouds are luminous clouds that appear normally at the
northern horizon at around local midnight. They have
been observed for at least 125 years but of late, they have
become more common, brighter and seen from latitudes
much further south than normal. They appear around the
months May to July so keep an eye on the northern sky.
For the latest updates on observations for 2010, click on this link: NLC Sightings
Bibliography for Manx Night Skies
The Handbook of the British
Astronomical Association 2010. BAA. 2009
2010 Yearbook of
Astronomy. Patrick Moore. Macmillan. 2009
Philip's Stargazing
2010. Heather Couper & Nigel Henbest. Philip's.
2009
Observer's Handbook Meteors. Neil Bone. Philip's
1993
Atlas of the Night Sky. Storm Dunlop. Collins.
2005
Constellations. Josef Klepešta and Antonin Rükl.
Hamlyn. 1979
Brilliant Stars. Patrick Moore. The Book People
Ltd. 1996
Complete Guide to Stargazing. Robin Scagell.
Phillip's. 2006
Turn Left at Orion. Guy Consolmango and Dan M.
Davis. Cambridge U.P. 2008
Norton's 2000.0 Edited Ian Ridpath.
Longman Scientific & Technical. 1989
Planetary data derived from
Guide 8
Software.
Picture graphics derived from Stellarium
and Guide 8 Software.