2018 Week 25: (June 17-June 23)

The first day of Summer occurs this week and we have a lot of great things happening in the sky!

Date	Event
June 18	Regulus 1.7°S of Moon
June 19	Neptune Stationary
June 19	Vesta at Opposition
June 19	Venus 0.4°N of Beehive Cluster (M44)
June 20	First Quarter
June 21	Solstice
June 21	Jupiter 4°S of Moon

The Moon is back in the western sky at sunset for all those who have a normal bedtime to see!  It will be in conjunction with the heart of the lion, Regulus, on Monday.

Neptune will begin its annual retrograde motion as it will move westward across the sky compared to the background stars.  Astrologers seem to indicate that it will bring greater tranquility to our lives; if only that is true!

The asteroid Vesta will reach opposition on June 19.  You may actually be able to see this with the naked eye from a dark sight as it reaches magnitude 5.3.  You can try to find it from the city as it is hanging out a few binocular fields away from Saturn.

Map to Vesta

If you attempt to find it with a telescope try sketching the region each night.  You should see the asteroid move quickly against the background stars.

If you would like an even more incredible sight put Venus into your binoculars.  It will essentially be part of the Beehive Cluster.  The weather seems to indicate clear skies throughout the week.  Find a place where you can see the western horizon and binocular Venus.  You will see an incredible crowd of stars hanging out with the Roman goddess of Love.

Venus and M44

Continuing our action packed week the Moon will reach First Quarter and will make a lovely sight to all who peer upon with with their eyes or optical aid.

Nearly 24 hours after first quarter it will be Summer.  The Solstice occurs at 4:07am on June 21.  You will go to bed in Spring and wake up to Summer.  Astronomers can rejoice because the sky will be darker for longer after this date!

To cap off this exiting week the Moon will be in conjunction with the largest planet in the Solar System, Jupiter.  It would be wise to get out soon to see Jupiter through a telescope as it is quickly moving toward the evening sunset.

There are a couple rocket launches scheduled for next week if you would like to check them out.

Date	Event
June 20	Long March 3B, Beidou
June 22	Electron, It's Business Time (20:30-00:30)

Two satellites for a Chinese navigation system will launch on June 20 at a time yet to be determined.  A couple days later several satellites will be launched from the North Island of New Zealand.  I have never seen a launch from this facility and hope to catch it on (https://spaceflightnow.com/) Friday night.

The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System is being created as an alternative to the US owned GPS with a claimed accuracy to the millimeter.  Beidou is the name of the Big Dipper in China.  The Big Dipper asterism is commonly used to find(navigate to) the North Star, Polaris; thus the origin of the name of this system.

As mentioned above the weather is supposed to be quite clear this week.  It will be well worth your time to get outside and look up to the sky.  There are some bright constellations above and Virgo, Libra and Scorpius traipse across the southern sky!