Shropshire Sky At Night – June
While we sit in our gardens gazing skywards, the International Space Station is accepting visitors, courtesy of Elon Musk and his SpaceX project which successfully launched Nasa astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley.
The ISS makes a good observing target as it completes one orbit of the Earth every 90 minutes and relies on light from the Sun being reflected to Earth for it to become visible, so its relative position is important. Unfortunately it passes overhead during daylight hours throughout the whole of June so we will have to wait a bit longer to go hunting.
Alternatively, looking towards the western sky 60 to 90 minutes after the sun has set you might be lucky enough to observe the spectacular neon blue streaks referred to as noctilucent, or night shining, clouds, high in the sky. Like ordinary clouds they form due to water vapour. The very cold temperatures above 80km produce the reflective ice crystals which contain dust from space and meteors. The light from the sun reflects off the ice particles producing spectacular sights.
Whereas an equinox represents a day with equal duration of day and night, the summer solstice refers to the day with the most daylight which this year occurs at 21:43 UTC on June 20 and signifies the first day of summer.
The largest feature in the summer night sky is the Milky Way, a myriad of spectacular dense patches of multicoloured stars and distinctive dust lanes which represent the flattened disc of our home galaxy. The patterns that the Milky Way displays depends very much on the seasons but the summer months provide some of the most spectacular views as we are looking towards the centre of our galaxy.
Its densest central sections are mainly found in the constellation of Sagittarius, which rises in the south just after dusk rising up through Aquila, Cygnus and the summer triangle providing many a myth and legend.
With a new moon on 21st a pair of binoculars or small telescope will allow you to observe millions of sparkling little stars that make up this glowing, irregular belt of luminosity. If you observe carefully you might see black voids or rifts in the constellation of Cygnus. They are not holes in the Milky Way, but are vast clouds of dust drifting in interstellar space.
For those who like to stay closer to home Mercury offers a good view just after sunset for the first half of June. However do not search for it using binoculars or telescopes until the sun has completely set. For early risers Jupiter is easily identified for a couple of hours before sunrise in the constellation of Sagittarius. An added bonus is that Jupiter is joined by Saturn and will make a spectacular sight. Remember that in a murky atmosphere stars twinkle whereas planets don't.
The Shropshire Astronomical Society always welcomes experienced or novice stargazers, but unfortunately has suspended all meetings and public events for the foreseeable future.
Steve Szwajkun is a member of Shropshire Astronomical Society (www.shrophire-astro.uk)
