This upcoming week may only give us one or two clear nights – but that’s Ohio for you. The temperatures are hovering around the mid 50’s on clearer nights. Sunset occurs just after 9 PM and faint stars and other celestial objects will not be visible until 10 PM.

Since we are past the summer solstice, the days will slowly become shorter and shorter and sunset will slowly get earlier.

If there is a break in the clouds this week be on the lookout for a Mars-Beehive Cluster conjunction, a full moon, a late-night double eclipse on Jupiter, and a run-in between the moon and Saturn. Since we will all likely be under clouds, I will include a brief section of interesting facts about stars that you can use to impress your friends and family next time you’re stargazing.

Wednesday or Thursday night (perhaps the only night with clear skies) grab a pair of binoculars and wait until just after sunset to find Mars low in the western skies passing through the famous Beehive Cluster. You will have to be quick to see this one since Mars and the Beehive set below the horizon just 40 minutes after first becoming fully visible.

Mars will be passing through the noted “Beehive” cluster this week. Spot the cluster in the evening tiwlight in binoculars.

Thursday marks the full moon of June. Officially the moon will be at its fullest at 2:39 PM, but it will appear the same all day long. The bright moon usually washes out many faint night-sky objects and makes it difficult for your eyes to adapt to the dark. A full moon behind some clouds may make for some great, ominous photography opportunities.

The full moon and clouds are often a photogenic combination.

If you are more of a night owl, look low near the horizon on June 26 at 1 AM with a telescope at Jupiter. You will find two dark spots on the surface. These are shadows cast by two eclipsing moons. If you watch this event for the next hour and a half, you will see one shadow race and pass the other.

Jupiter’s four big moons occasionally cast shadows on its cloudtops.

Sunday any time between midnight and sunrise try to spot the moon hanging in the sky. You may notice it has a nearby partner, Saturn. This outer planet makes a great binocular and telescope target. Try to spot the Cassini Division. This is a large gap in Saturn’s rings that make it look like someone painted a thin black stripe along the ring system.

The most distinctive feature of the rings of Saturn is the gap in them known as the Cassini Division, after the astronomer who discovered it: Giovani Cassini

Lastly, here are some interesting facts about stars that you can think about and share with fellow stargazers…

You may notice that stars only came in three colors – red, white, and blue. These colors are related to the star’s surface temperature. Hot stars are blue while cooler stars are red. You may ask, “So why no green or violet stars?”. Well, stars shine a whole spectrum, like our own sun, so they may shine lots of green but their full spectrum makes them appear white.

85% of stars form in pairs called binary systems. (Our sun may have been one of them.) Some stars even form in a group of three! Imagine three suns orbiting around each other instead of just the one we have.

Under perfect conditions, the naked eye can see around 3,500 stars and a telescope can see around 3 million. Even with the telescope, this is just 0.003% of the total stars in our Milky Way galaxy (100 billion total stars estimated to be in our galaxy).

Stars are born in clusters, and our sun is no exception – so where are the sun’s brother and sister stars? Nobody is sure. Since our sun was born 4.5 billion years ago alongside its cluster stars, it has rotated through the Milky Way 20 times. Gravitational forces and other processes are responsible for the dispersion of the original cluster (this happens frequently with other stars and their clusters too, not just with our sun).

Try to enjoy the one or two clear nights this upcoming week or try spotting the bright moon’s light piercing through the clouds. As summer moves forwards, the dark night skies will arrive earlier and earlier and the nighttime temperatures will retain their daytime warmth. This week try spotting Mars passing through the Beehive Cluster, the full moon, a double shadow on Jupiter, and the moon passing near Saturn. The few facts provided about stars are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how interesting stars (and space in general) can be.

Clear Skies!

What's up this Fourth Week of June: Jared May