The next two months have the shortest nights of the year. Good stargazing can’t really begin until after 10 p.m., and the show is pretty much over by 4:30 a.m.
The stars and constellations of winter are pretty much gone,, all setting well before the sun.
The only bright winter stars left are Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini the Twins.
Between 9:30 and 10 p.m. you can see them side by side in the low northwestern sky.
The brightest “star” in the night sky this month is actually the planet Venus appearing in the low west-northwest sky before the end of evening twilight.
Venus is so bright because it has a very reflective cloud cover, which makes it difficult to see with a backyard telescope.
In the first half of June in that same part of the sky you can also see the planet Mercury to the upper left of Venus.
You do want to get your telescope out for Saturn. It’s a must see.
Look for the ringed wonder about halfway from the horizon to the overhead zenith. Saturn is just a little to the left of the moderately bright star Spica, the bright star in the large but faint constellation Virgo the Virgin.
With even a small telescope you can easily see its ring system that spans more than 130,000 miles in diameter.
If you lie back look straight overhead toward the zenith you’ll easily see the nearly upside-down Big Dipper.
Off the end of the dipper’s handle you’ll see a bright orange star, Arcturus, the second brightest star in the sky,. It’s about 36 light-years or 208 trillion miles away.
In the eastern skies the stars of summer are making their initial evening appearance. Leading the way is Vega, the brightest star of Lyra the Harp.
A little to the lower left of Vega is Deneb, the brightest shiner is in Cygnus the Swan, otherwise known as the Northern Cross, rising sideways in the east.
Deneb lies at the head of the cross and is more than 1,500 lightyears from Earth. Remember, just one light-year equals almost six trillion miles.
Deneb is a moderately bright star, but it’s almost 400,000 times more powerful than our sun and more than 250 million miles in diameter.
Mike Lynch is an astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and is author of “Stars, a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations.” Check his website, www.lynchandthestars.com.
The Everett Astronomical Society: www.everettastro.org/.
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