Observing This Month June 2008 

June

New moon:      19:22  03-Jun-2008

First quarter: 15:03  10-Jun-2008

Full moon:     17:30  18-Jun-2008

Last quarter:  12:10  26-Jun-2008

The planets – on June 1st 2008

The Sun is in Taurus. It rises at 04:48, transits the meridian at 13:08, and sets at 21:29. The length of the day is 16h 41m.

The Moon is in Aries with a phase of 8%, and is 27.0 days old. New Moon will occur in 2.3 days time. It rises at 02:49, transits at 10:41, and sets at 18:58. It is visible in the morning sky.

Mercury is in Taurus with a magnitude of +3.9, a phase of 3%, and a diameter of 12". It rises at 05:32, transits at 13:47, and sets at 22:00. It is visible low in the west after sunset.

Venus is in Taurus with a magnitude of -3.9, a phase of 100%, and a diameter of 10". It rises at 04:45, transits at 12:59, and sets at 21:14. It is currently too close to the Sun to be observed.

Mars is in Cancer with a magnitude of +1.5, a phase of 92%, and a diameter of 5". It sets at 01:23, rises again at 09:39, and transits at 17:30. It is visible in the evening sky.

Jupiter is in Sagittarius with a magnitude of -2.6 and a diameter of 45". It rises at 00:10, transits at 04:04, and sets at 07:57. It is well placed for observation throughout the night.

Saturn is in Leo with a magnitude of +0.7 and a diameter of 18". It sets at 02:03, rises again at 11:37, and transits at 18:48. It is visible in the evening sky.

Uranus is in Aquarius with a magnitude of +5.8 and a diameter of 3". It rises at 02:20, transits at 08:03, and sets at 13:46. It is visible in the morning sky.

Neptune is in Capricornus with a magnitude of +7.9 and a diameter of 2". It rises at 01:30, transits at 06:16, and sets at 11:03. It is visible in the morning sky.

Pluto is in Sagittarius with a magnitude of +13.9. It transits at 02:32, sets at 06:58, and rises again at 22:02. It is well placed for observation throughout the night.

The Stars (at 10pm BST)

North – The two Bears are well placed with Cepheus and Cassiopeia well placed for observation. Perseus skirts the horizon.

East – Hercules and Lyra are well placed with Corona Borealis also in view

South - Virgo is well placed with lee (and Saturn) nicely in view. Bootes is high above and Libra is just starting to rise.

West – Gemini is setting with Caner (and Mars) not far behind). Hydra skirts the horizon. There is a nice apparition of Mars, Regulus and Saturn on the evening of the 25th of June.

Meteors – there are no major showers in June, however there are a number of minor showers that may give around 5 meteors per hour