~ St. Maarten’s Backyard Astronomy for June 23 & 24 ~
Sun rises at 5:38am
Sun sets at 6:51pm
Moon phase: 2nd qtr moon, waxing gibbous
Moon rises at 3:15pm
Moon sets at 2:15am
Moonshine?
This weekend’s night sky belongs to the gibbous moon and a few of her attendants. You’ll surely see the bright moon as soon as the sky becomes dim. Look close to the moon to see the planet Jupiter, and then glance down, closer to the eastern horizon to see the glorious Saturn rising up.
Look to the western horizon to see the “Evening Star” Venus as well as the elusive planet Mercury. They will both set early, gone by 9:30pm. But that is when you can get a view of Mars, just rising up from the eastern horizon, following the path set by Jupiter, the moon, and Saturn.
Close encounters?
Saturday, June 23, the moon will pair up very closely with Jupiter. The moon swings to the north of Jupiter on June 23. By Sunday, June 24, look for Jupiter just west of the moon. (See sky chart.)
By the way, when we say the moon is near Jupiter, we really mean these two worlds are close together on the sky’s dome. The moon and Jupiter are actually not close together in space. The moon, our closest celestial neighbour, lies some 242,000 miles (390,000 km) distant from Earth. In contrast, Jupiter lodges way beyond the moon, at nearly 1,800 times the moon’s distance from us.
Southern Cross at sunset
Take a minute just after sunset to look due south. There you will have the chance to see the famous constellation known as the Southern Cross. This constellation is present on many national flags and has a mention in many popular songs, including our own St. Maarten Song.
It’s rarely seen in the Northern Hemisphere locations of planet Earth, but we are far enough south on the globe to be able to observe it making a low arch in our southern sky at this time of year. At sunset, the cross is due south and it will be touching the SSE horizon by 10:10pm.
Thank you for keeping up with the Night Sky articles. If you are out later on in the week, each star rises about four minutes earlier each day than written here, and the moon rises 50 minutes later. Night Sky is researched and compiled by Lisa Davis-Burnett. Earthsky.org is a key resource for information and images. Questions or comments? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
