Moon and Saturn line up as “space clouds” glow: This week’s night sky

Every Monday I select North America’s celestial highlights for the coming week (which also apply to the mid-northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere), but be sure to check out my main feed for more detailed articles on stargazing, astronomy, eclipses and more.

ForbesIn pictures: Full rising of the “Strawberry Moon” marks an event that only occurs every 18 yearsFrom Jamie Carter

The night sky this week: June 24-30, 2024

Just days after the solstice, this week will see the latest sunsets of 2024. A bad week for stargazing? Not really. Of course, you’ll have to stay up until about midnight for the sky to be dark enough to see stars, but during the twilight hours you’ll get fantastic views of the waning gibbous moon near Saturn and Neptune, plenty of satellites catching the sun’s glow, and even “space clouds” in the northern sky.

Here’s what you can see in the night sky this week:

Tuesday, June 25: Launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket

Today, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will launch NASA/NOAA’s GOES-U (soon GOES-19) weather satellite into a geostationary orbit 36,700 kilometers above the equator. In addition to providing weather forecasts for the United States, GOES-U is unique in that it features a coronagraph that maps the sun’s corona – the mysterious hotter outer atmosphere visible from Earth only during a total solar eclipse – and helps solar physicists more accurately predict coronal mass ejections and thus the solar wind.

NASA and SpaceX are targeting a two-hour launch window beginning at 5:16 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 25. Keep the SpaceX feed The exact times can be found at: www.spacex.com/youtube/us/media …

Thursday, June 27: Moon-Saturn conjunction

In the early morning hours (rising in the east at about 1:00 a.m.), the 68% illuminated waning gibbous Moon – the closest to Earth this month – will appear very close to Saturn. Mars and Jupiter will also be visible over the east.

According to In-The-Sky.org, the moon will obscure (eclipse) the “ringed planet” for a few hours as seen from eastern Australia and northeastern New Zealand.

Friday, June 28: The last quarter of the moon obscures Neptune

This morning, it’s Neptune’s turn, the eighth planet from the Sun, to be visited by a 58% illuminated waning crescent Moon, rising in the east around 1:00 a.m. This is an excellent opportunity to observe Neptune, normally a challenging target, with binoculars.

According to In-The-Sky.org, as seen from northern South America (northwestern Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela), the Moon will obscure (darken) the “ringed planet” for several hours.

Saturday, June 29: Darkest summer sky

With nights so short now in the Northern Hemisphere, stargazing becomes difficult. But at least the moon is out of the way now. Everywhere over the equator it now rises around 1:00 a.m. The last (or third) quarter moon – which is only half illuminated – rises 50 minutes later each night.

Sunday, June 30: “Asteroid Day”

Today is Asteroid Day, but hopefully that doesn’t mean dangerous rocks are headed for Earth. Later this year we’ll see “First Light” from the Vera Rubin Observatory, which will use a wide-angle camera to map the night sky in real time and help find thousands of asteroids that scientists don’t yet know about.

Target of the week visible to the naked eye: Noctilucent clouds

Twilight will dominate your stargazing, so make the most of it. The most beautiful are the noctilucent clouds, or “night-glowing” clouds, which form at high altitudes from icy dust and form at about 80 kilometers altitude during northern twilight in June and July (at latitudes between 50° and 70° north and south of the equator).

The delicate NLCs are best seen with the naked eye or binoculars at this time of year because they are illuminated by the sun, which sets but never sinks far below the horizon.

Binocular target of the week: Large globular cluster

This month, M13, the Great Globular Cluster of Hercules, is in an ideal position in the night sky. A spectacular sight from the Northern Hemisphere, the closest and brightest globular cluster is located about 25,000 light-years away and can be seen through binoculars or a small telescope.

A globular cluster is made up of 10 billion year old stars that formed outside the Milky Way and now orbit in its halo. M13 is one of 150 known star clusters – but one of the most observable. Look almost at the zenith – directly above – between the bright stars Vega and Arcturus.

The times and dates given are for mid-northern latitudes. For the most accurate location-specific information, please visit online planetariums such as SkySafari Pro And Stellarium. Check Planet rising/planet setting, Sunrise sunset And Moonrise/Moonset Times for your location.

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Pick up my books Stargazing in 2024, A stargazing program for beginners And When is the next solar eclipse?

I wish you clear skies and big eyes.