2018 Week 24: (June 10-June 16)

The Moon is a waning crescent for the first half of the week as it approaches a New Moon.  This will mark the end of Ramadan for Muslims throughout the world and Eid al-Fitr celebrations will begin as the Sun sets on June 14th.

Date	Event
June 13	New Moon
June 16	Venus 2°N of Moon
June 16	Moon 1.5°S of Beehive Cluster (M44)

As the Moon progresses into its next cycle look for it in conjunction with Venus on Saturday.  At the same time, look for the Beehive Cluster in between the two objects.  The map below highlights this great Saturday evening.

Moon/M44/Venus Conjunction

Venus should be obvious in the northwestern sky.  All you need to do is point binoculars at it and slowly pan towards the Moon.  You will go right through the Beehive Cluster.  Unfortunately it is in the constellation of Cancer which is quite dim and difficult to see from the city.

There are two launches scheduled for this upcoming week.  The Japanese Government is launching an information gathering satellite on the 10th.  Six days later NASA is scheduled to launch an ionosphere monitoring satellite from the Marshall Islands.  Information for these events are shown below and as always can be viewed live from (https://spaceflightnow.com/).

Date	Event
June 10	H-2A IGS Radar 6 (22:00-24:00)
June 16	Pegasus XL ICON (08:01-08:38)

I will reiterate this every week that Mars is approaching its best opposition in 15 years on July 26 and will be at closest approach on July 31.  This week it rises just before 01:00 and will be visible across the southern sky all night.  Its magnitude is -1.5 and has a diameter of 17".  With a telescope you may be able to see surface features on the red planet.

I found a Mars profiling plugin hosted by Sky and Telescope that shows which side of Mars is currently facing the Earth.  In conjunction with detailed maps this is a good resource to identify significant regions on Mars.  A link to this plugin is found below.

http://wwwcdn.skyandtelescope.com/wp-content/plugins/observing-tools/mars_profiler/mars.html

It is interesting to note that Mount Olympus will be in the middle of the view on the closest approach day: July 31, 2018!

Saturn rises at 22:45 and can be seen in the southern sky throughout the evening.  A steady hand with binoculars will show it is certainly not round and a telescope will show the beautiful rings.

The weather this week seems to indicate average temperatures with some rain early and late in the week.  If there is a clear evening be sure to get outside and look at the sky!