When I was getting into astronomy it was always said that, as summer arrives, the W lighter nights make observing sessions rather pointless. What I eventually learnt is that while chasing the dimmest faint fuzzies at the eyepiece might be out of the question in June, the warm evenings can still be a time when treasured celestial memories are made. There's certainly no reason to leave the telescope or binoculars gathering dust this month, with some fine star clusters, noctilucent clouds, planetary alignments and more to be seen. In this article we've picked out a selection of phenomena that will hopefully provide some satisfying observing and imaging challenges during the nights of June. And while our list is tailored slightly more to the interests of an intermediate-level astronomer with photographic kit to hand, there are some great beginner targets scattered among them.
Will Gater is an astronomy journalist and science presenter. His latest book, The Mysteries of the Universe, is published by DK
The Beehive Cluster
We begin our journey around June's night skies with a goodbye of sorts, looking at a spring target that's sinking into the west now that summer's here. On the night of 1 June you'll find the beautiful Beehive Cluster, M44, dropping low on the west-northwest horizon as midnight approaches. It's the perfect observing target for 10x50 binoculars, or similar, which will show the numerous glittering stars of the open cluster scattered around a patch of sky that's roughly a degree across. A few nights later, on 4 June, the crescent Moon lies about 6.5° from the Beehive Cluster. With earthshine - when light scattered off Earth lights up the Moon's night side - showing up at this lunar phase, the arrangement could make for some striking nightscape-style astrophotography compositions.
ASTROPHOTO HIGHLIGHT
This story is from the June 2022 edition of BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 2022 edition of BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Could We Find Aliens by Looking for Their Solar Panels?- Designed to reflect ultraviolet and infrared, the panels have a unique fingerprint
Researchers searching for life beyond Earth spend a lot of time thinking about what telltale signs might be detectable astronomically. Forms of unambiguous evidence for the presence of life on another world are known as biosignatures. By extension, techno signatures are indicators of activity by intelligent, civilisation-building life.
Antimatter- In our continuing series, Govert Schilling looks at antimatter, the strange counterpart to most of the matter filling our Universe
Particles and corresponding antiparticles are very much alike, except they have opposite electrical charges. For instance, the antiparticle of the electron - known as the positron - has the same tiny mass, but while electrons carry a negative electrical charge, positrons are positively charged.
Where Have All The Milky Way's Early Stars Gone?- Our Galaxy has a curious lack of pristine stars
The Big Bang produced a Universe filled almost exclusively with hydrogen and helium; all other elements - what astronomers call metals - were produced by stars, supernovae and everything that happens later. So if you can pick out a pristine star with no metals polluting it from among the billions in the Milky Way, then you are likely to have a star dating from our Galaxy's earliest days.
Inside The Sky At Night - Two years ago, exoplanet scientist Hannah Wakeford received some of the first data from the JWST
Two years ago, exoplanet scientist Hannah Wakeford received some of the first data from the JWST. In July's Sky at Night, we discovered what she's learned since then.
How to stack DSLR data in Siril
Easily combine multiple frames to boost detailin your astro photos
Lunar occultation of Saturn
You'll need to strike a balance on 21 August to capture the Moon covering the ringed planet
How to plot a variable star light curve
A rewarding project to chart stars that change brightness
Smartphone photography with a telescope
Mary Mcintyre explains how to get impressive night-sky images using your phone
Once-a-century solar storm is overdue
If a Carrington Event struck today it would be catastrophic, says Minna Palmroth
The new era of human spaceflight
There's been a step-change in crewed space missions since the dawn of the 21st century. Ben Evans charts its course and looks ahead to future horizons
