June 28th: 90th Anniversary (1911) Nakhla meteorite fall in Egypt (Mars meteorite).
THE NIGHT SKY DURING THE MONTH OF JUNE 2001
and 
The Sun and Moon
All times are in BRITISH SUMMER TIME (BST). Times For Observer in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, U.K.
Latitude 53 degs 24 mins North.
Longitude +3.0 degs West.
May 31st June 5th 10th 15th 20th 25th 30th
SUNRISE 04:51 04:47 04:44 04:43 04:43 04:42 04:47
SUNSET 21:28 21:34 21:39 21:42 21:44 21:45 21:44
The SUMMER SOLSTICE occurs on the 21st at 08hr:39m BST, the longest day of the year, and when the Sun will be at its highest point in the sky this year. The Sun lies in the constellations of Taurus/Gemini. Solstice is latin word literal meaning "Sun standstill". From now on the hours of darkness slowly lengthen.
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PHASES OF THE MOON DURING JUNE 2000 |
NEW MOON
on 21st
at 12h:59m |
FIRST QUARTER
on 28th
at 04h:21m |
FULL MOON
on 5th
at 16h:05m |
LAST QUARTER
on 13th
at 19h:46m |
THE PLANETS THIS MONTH.
MERCURY.
Mercury, having excelled itself last month, is now at inferior conjunction on the 16th.
VENUS.
Venus, keeps its easterly bearing and increases slightly in altitude about half an hour before Sunrise.
MARS
© Sky & Telescope
Mars is at opposition on the 13th. It is quite low down as this year's opposition occurs in Ophiuchus, close to the borders with Scorpius and Sagittarius. Even using high magnification Mars is initially a disappointing view through a telescope, the yellowish disk seemingly devoid of detail at first glance. A closer inspection will reveal a brighter polar cap or caps and the use of coloured filters can enhance the view more, bringing out subtle but real surface detail. By rare coincidence this month, the equator of Mars is pointed almost exactly toward us, so each pole is seen about equally well.One thing you cannot fail to notice though is that Mars is small. At an apparent diameter of 20".5 right now this is as big as it's going to get!. On the 6th Mars is 3° south of the Moon at 21hr:00. On the 22nd Mars passes just 9" South of the faint star 36 Ophiuchi which is just visible to the unaided eye. Mars is now moving in retrograde motion.
© Sky & Telescope.
ASTEROIDS.
42 Isis is at opposition in Ophiuchus on the 7th at Mag 9.8.
14 Irene is at opposition in Ophiuchus on the 11th at Mag 9.4
For More information on Asteroids Click Here.
JUPITER.
Jupiter is at solar conjunction on the 14th and is therefore not on view this month.
Launched in October 1989, the Galileo Jupiter Probe entered orbit around the great planet on December 7th 1995. The Project Galileo Homepage will give you up-to-date information and the very latest images returned.
SATURN.
Saturn is only just recovering from it solar conjunction last month, becoming a morning object later in the month..
URANUS and 
NEPTUNE.
Both planets rise before midnight by the end of the month in the constellation of Capricornus, so those patient enough to wait up until the early hours will be amongst the first to get a glimpse of these two planets. Even if you cannot see them directly a few long exposure photographs of the region using a 135mm lens will reveal them when the photo is compared with a good star atlas which shows faint stars. Neither planet will show much of a disk-the most you can expect with a small telescope will be to distinguish any pastel colouration which may be evident under excellent seeing conditions.
Positions for the 1st June
R.A. DEC TRANSIT TIME MAG
21h:49m:44s -13°:55':41" 06h:22m 5.8
Neptune will be at opposition on July 30th and is best seen during the summer months.
Positions for the 1st June:
R.A. DEC TRANSIT TIME MAG
20h:35m:31s -17°:56':55" 05h:08m 7.9
PLUTO.
Pluto at opposition on June 3rd,can be found in Ophiuchus, roughly between the 4th magnitude stars zeta and 20 Ophiuchi. The best time to look for the planet is around New Moon. The dates below will be a guide for planning observations.
Positions for June are when pluto's elongation angle is greater than 90°.
DATE R.A. DEC TRANSIT TIME
June 10th 16h:54m:45s -11°:48':13" 00h:50m
June 20th 16h:53m:41s -11°:48':02" 00h:10m
June 30th 16h:53m:41s -11°:48':30" 23h:30m
Pluto is best seen between JUNE 14th - JUNE 28th.
METEORS.
COMETS.
OCCULATIONS.
EMail: ggastro@liverpool.ac.uk.
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