The
June night sky
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Space Shuttle in orbit around planet earth |
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With
cloudy skies and rain storms, May was not an ideal month for stargazers...
June however promises to make up for it.
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Hopefully June will be a big improvement.
The Space Shuttle Endeavour is due to dock with the International
Space Station (ISS) on the June, 1. During the 11 day mission the
crew of Endeavour will attempt to check for coolant leaks which are
affecting the Auxillary Power Unit.
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| Io
the moon nearest Jupiter. |
They will
also perform three spacewalks to install a Mobile Base System. The
crew will then exchange places with the current inhabitants of the
ISS. If all goes according to plan, scheduled return is on the June,
11.
The ISS is visible during the late evening. It appears just 15 minutes
before the Envisat. The two should not be confused however, as the
ISS passes from east to west, whereas the Envisat crosses from south
to north.
June is the month in which we say goodbye to Jupiter as a bright evening
planet. For several months it has been the brightest planet in the
evening sky, tracking the constellation Gemini across the heavens.
Its place in the evening sky will be more than filled by Venus (a
-3.9 magnitude at the beginning of the month). The two planets will
appear to meet as Jupiter descends and Venus ascends. They will appear
closest on the 3rd.
The only other fairly bright planet in the evening sky is Mars, which
sets by 11 p.m.
The next new moon is on the 11th of the month. The full moon occurs
at 22:42 on 24th.
There are no significant comets or meteor showers expected this month.
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