Wednesday, June 14, 2023

If you have a low and fairly level horizon to your north, you’ll be able to watch the bright star Capella scrape the northern horizon. It is low in the north-northwest when it appears near 9:30, and is nearly on the horizon, due north, near 12:30 AM, then slowly...

Tuesday, June 13, 2023

Very late tonight, a thinning Crescent Moon rises just to the left of Jupiter near 2:45 AM, climbing a bit higher and more easterly before the morning twilight overwhelms them by 4:30 or so. The Earth’s orbit shifts our viewing, bringing Jupiter into the skies 4...

Monday, June 12, 2023

The earliest sunrises of the year take place this week, before the longest days of the year. The Earth is farther from the Sun in June, causing it to orbit a little slower. However, it still spins on its axis at the same speed. That means it turns and faces the Sun a...

Sunday, June 11, 2023

The star Antares, the “heart” of Scorpio, the Scorpion, is due south at midnight, shimmering a bright orangish-red. Antares was one of the four Royal Stars in Persian astronomy, marking the position of the Sun at the beginning of autumn thousands of years ago. You can...

Saturday, June 10, 2023

Tonight, as the twilight fades in the west, the “twin stars” of Gemini are lowering toward the horizon. Pollux on the left, and Castor a bit higher and to the right, are not actually twin stars. They are not even related. Pollux is 34 light years away,...