Naked Eye Events in the Night Sky

All of the planets will be up in the night sky from the 16th of June at 4:35 AM through the 27th of June at 4:40 AM. When all the planets rise they will create an arc across the Eastern sky from 91 degrees on the 16th to 107 degrees on the 27th. The last time this happened was about 100 years ago and won’t happen again until 2041.

On the 24th the planets will be visited by the waning crescent Moon halfway between Venus and Mars. The hardest planet to spot is Mercury because it stays low on the horizon and has a low magnitude. However, on the 24th it will have a magnitude of -0.2, making it brighter than the stars in the Big Dipper, and it will climb to 12 degrees above the horizon.

Our moon will cause interference from the 16th through the 22nd of June because of its brightness. On the 26th The Moon and Venus will rise at about the same time and have their closest encounter in 2022 only 2.5 degrees apart (about the width of your finger held at arm's length).

If you have a telescope or A good pair of binoculars, you may also be able to see Uranus and Neptune. Uranus will be between Venus and Mars at magnitude 5.8 and Neptune will be between Jupiter and Saturn at magnitude 7.9. You will notice that Mars and Venus, when viewed through a telescope or binoculars, are not globes but are in a gibbous phase. Both are about 86% illuminated. Mercury will appear as a half-moon. If you have trouble finding Mercury, try on the 27th when the Moon will be about 3.5 degrees to Mercury’s upper left.

SUNRISE FROM THE 16TH THROUGH THE 27TH IS BETWEEN 5:35 AM and 5:40 AM.

Summer Solstice is June 21st at 3:14 AM, the longest day of the year

SUMMER IS HERE!

For rise times and magnitudes of planets and Moon visit Cottontail Observatory at http://www.cottontailobservatory.com.