Some highlights for the night sky in June 2004

Thursday 3 June 2004

• Moon is at perigee
• Look for Comet LINEAR near Alphard (6 degrees away)

Friday 4 June 2004

• Look for Venus immediately after sunset towards western horizon
• Saturn, Mars and Jupiter in the western sky too

Tuesday 8 June 2004

• THE TRANSIT OF VENUS at sunrise
• Pictures of the transit taken from George Mason University
• The Astronomical League Transit of Venus Certificate Observing Program

Wednesday 9 June 2004

• Last Quarter Moon at 4:02PM EDT
• Moon rises after midnight, on your meridian after sunrise

Friday 11 June 2004

• Look hard for Pluto (mag 14) it is at opposition
• Pluto is in the constellation Serpens

Monday 14 June 2004

• Look for Mars near Pollux
• The earliest sunrise occurs this day even though it's not the day with the longest number of daylight hours
• It is Flag Day for the USA

Tuesday 15 June 2004

• Look early for Venus, now as a morning star
• Look for the Moon near the Pleaides

Friday 18 June 2004

• Look for the crescent Moon after sunset
• Try to find Saturn, you are not likely to see it in the evening for a while

Sunday 20 June 2004

• Summer solstice occurs in the evening (8:57PM)
• Look for the Moon near Pollux

Monday 21 June 2004

• Look for the stars of the Summer Triangle
• The Summer Triangle consists of Vega of Lyra, Deneb of Cygnus, and Altair of Aquila

Friday 25 June 2004

• First Quarter Moon
• Look for the Moon in Virgo
• Look for the star Spica in Virgo

Wednesday 30 June 2004

• Moon is near Antares
• Look for Mercury near horizon after sunset

Good skywatching resources

• The Messier Objects list
• Abrams Planetarium Skywatcher's Diary (source of the daily events)
• SkyMap software (used to make the maps)
• The Nearest Stars
• The Brightest Stars
• Skymaps dot com (free monthly star maps)
• Planetarium Software
• About the GMU observatory

John Avellone's provided web sites

• FCPS/NOVAC EarthDial Web Cam at TJHSST Planetarium
• EarthDial Project Beta test webpage