In the Sky This Month

The planet Saturn, which looks like a bright star, stands close to the Moon the next couple of mornings. Tomorrow, it will be to the lower left of the Moon at dawn. It will be a little farther to the right of the Moon on Wednesday.

Earth will reach its farthest point from the Sun for the entire year around midday tomorrow. We will be about 3.1 million miles farther than we were at closest approach, in early January.

Bellatrix, Spica, and Omega Herculis are all good “semiquincentennial” stars. All three of them are roughly 250 light-years away, so we see them as they looked roughly 250 years ago, near the time of the Declaration of Independence.

Vega, the brightest star of Lyra, the harp, is high in the east at nightfall. Deneb, the tail of Cygnus, the swan, is to the lower left of Vega, with Altair, the brightest star of Aquila, the eagle, a little farther to the lower right of Vega.

Mars is low in the east-northeast at dawn, and looks like a modestly bright star. Tomorrow, much fainter Uranus will be quite close to the lower left of Mars, so both of them will fit in a binocular field of view. Uranus will stand closer above Mars on Saturday.

If the Sun were to suddenly wink out of existence (which is impossible), we wouldn’t know it for more than eight minutes. The Sun is 93 million miles away, and it takes light more than eight minutes to cross that distance.

Deneb, the bright star that marks the tail of the swan, is far bigger, heavier, and brighter than the Sun. It stands a third of the way up the northeastern sky at nightfall, at the left end of the “cross” that outlines the swan’s body and wings.

The Moon is full today at 6:56 p.m. CDT. The full Moon of June is known as the Flower Moon, Strawberry Moon, Rose Moon, or Honey Moon. It’s also called the Short-Night Moon, because it is in view for less time than any other full Moon of the year.

Tarazed, the second-brightest star of Aquila, the eagle, is a small fraction the age of the Sun, but because it’s more massive it has puffed up to become a red giant. It is low in the east at nightfall, close above brighter Altair.

Altair is one of the highlights of summer. It’s at one point of the Summer Triangle, and it’s the twelfth-brightest star in the night sky. It’s in the east at nightfall, well to the lower right of the triangle’s other bright members.