Throughout the month of June, shortly before sunrise, spectators were able to see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn — in that order — stretching across the sky from low to high in the east. south.
On the morning of June 24, the planetary alignment will be even more compelling. Source: Sky & Telescope illustration
In one of the rare cases, early risers will be able to see a “Fab Five” planet parade in June.
“The delightful sight of the five planets at a glance will welcome early risers throughout the month of June,” the American Astronomical Society’s (AAS) Sky & Telescope publication said in a press release.
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“While seeing two or three planets together (in what is known as a conjunction) is quite common, seeing five of them is a little rarer. And what’s even more remarkable about this month’s formation is that the planets are arranged in their natural order from the Sun, “he added.
Throughout the month of June, shortly before sunrise, spectators were able to see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn — in that order — stretching across the sky from low to high in the east. south.
Parade of the planet after 18 years
“Mercury will be harder to spot: at the beginning of the month, viewers will need an unobstructed eastern horizon, as well as binoculars to potentially see the small world. As the month progresses, Mercury rises higher and rises. it illuminates significantly, facilitating its vision and thus completing the planetary alignment, “the magazine said.
The last time the five naked-eye planets climbed the horizon in sequence was in December 2004. But this year, the distance between Mercury and Saturn is much shorter.
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“Since ancient times, the naked-eye planets have intrigued and inspired viewers around the world. But only sporadically, usually every few years or so, do their orbits take them to the same side of the Sun. When that happens, the orbits “Planets extend across the sky in the morning or evening, depending on which side of the Sun they reside in. The planetary alignments in which the five planets resemble each other in a very small corner of the sky are rarer,” NASA said.
June 24, key date
Over the next few months, Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and Venus will appear more and more scattered across the morning sky, so much so that Venus and Saturn will make their departures as morning objects for most observers in September, according to NASA.
On the morning of June 24, according to the magazine, the planetary formation will be even more convincing. For starters, Mercury will be much easier to hook up, making the parade of five planets much more accessible. And you’ll have about an hour to enjoy the view, from the moment Mercury appears above the horizon until the rising sun takes it out of the sky. But the real advantage is the waning crescent moon between Venus and Mars, which serves as an intermediate earth. At this time of month, the planets extend further across the sky: the distance between Mercury and Saturn will be 107 °.
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Even though it is cloudy on the dates of the note, you still have every morning in between to contemplate the five planets with the naked eye that adorn the sky. Just make sure you wake up early.
Globular star clusters
In addition, according to NASA, June is an excellent time to observe one of the best known globular star clusters: M13, also known as the Hercules Cluster. Globular clusters are spherical collections of stars, well packed in their centers. The M13 itself contains several hundred thousand stars.
Globular clusters are also extremely old. M13 stars are thought to be about 12 billion years old, approaching the age of the universe. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is known to have about 150 globular clusters. They orbit outside the galaxy’s disk, traveling tens of thousands of light-years above and below their spiral arms and most of their stars, NASA said.