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Look Up!

Planetary Treats
Titan Beyond Saturn's Rings
Moon Shadows on Jupiter
Predawn's Planetary Pair ~ Mars and Venus
Crescent Mercury
Celestial Delights
Sirius, Good-Bye!
The Festival of Goodwill and the Galactic Heart
Plus ...
Sky Lights
Printable Date Tables
Moon Dances 4/24-5/24
Moon Dances 5/24-6/22
Gemini Navigation Page
The Night Sky ~ Home Page

Planetary Treats

Titan Beyond Saturn's Rings

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This breathtaking view shows Saturn’s stunning A and F rings stretching across the scene with small, battered Epimetheus floating above and smog-enshrouded Titan gloriously in the background. The color of the image approximates how this vista might appear to human eyes.

See All of Saturn's Rings!

Epimetheus, orbiting just outside the F ring, is 113 kilometers (70 miles) across and giant Titan is 5,150 kilometers (3,200 miles) across. The prominent dark region visible in the A ring is the Encke gap (325 kilometers, 200 miles wide), in which the moon Pan (28 kilometers, 17 miles across) and several narrow ringlets reside.

The Cassini spacecraft, now orbiting Saturn, captured this view April 28, 2006 at a distance of approximately 667,000 kilometers (415,000 miles) from Epimetheus and 1.8 million kilometers (1.1 million miles) from Titan.

Cassini and curious Earthlings await the coming Saturnian equinox this summer [2009] when the ring plane will point directly at the Sun. [Helpful Image] Mysterious spokes and telling shadows are expected to become visible that might give away more clues about the nature of Saturn's ring particles. APOD 5/5/09 ~ Current Astronomy Picture of the Day

NASA’s Cassini Mission
Successful Launch ~ October 15, 1997
Orbital Arrival ~ June 30, 2004
Mission Extension ~ To June 30, 2010
Originally Cassini-Huygens Mission
Extension: Cassini Equinox Mission

Note: See Ciclops for the full image caption and more stunning views of Saturn!

Saturn is the only planet currently in the evening sky. It appears star like and can be seen in the southwest until it sets around 2:30am in the beginning of Gemini and at 1:00am by its end .

Saturn lies near the hindquarters of Leo the Lion. Since the end of its retrograde motion in mid-May, the planet is once again moving easterly toward the Lion's tail. Saturn's yellowish glow at magnitude 1.0 is similar in brightness to blue-white Regulus, the Lion's heart star (magnitude 1.35) and to bluish Spica, the brightest star in Virgo the Virgin (magnitude 0.98). Saturn is positioned between these two stars. 5/31 10pm Map Compare all three on an evening when there is no moonlight interference.

Hmmm ... June's Astronomy Magazine gives these distances:

Saturn lies only 885 million miles from Earth, while Regulus shines across 450 trillion miles (78 light-years)[*], some 500,000 times farther away. And Spica lies even farther off, at a staggering 1.5 quadrillion miles (260 light-years).

Have you seen the triangle formed by Saturn, Spica and Arcturus? The two stars lie to the southeast and northeast of the planet respectively. Compare their color and brightness. Find the Big Dipper, arc down to bright golden Arcturus in Bootes from there spike down to dimmer bluish Spica in Virgo. Helpful Image ~ 6/10 9:30pm Sky Chart

Mark your calendar!

May 29-31, Friday-Sunday, the waxing Crescent Moon guides us to Regulus Friday evening and the First Quarter Moon to Saturn on Saturday evening. Look for the waxing Gibbous Moon between Saturn and Spica on Sunday night. 5/31 10pm Map ~ 5/30 9:30pm Sky Chart Click Moon Dances for an additional map with meditative reflections.

Telescopic Saturn ~ Ring Tilt

Look through any telescope and Saturn's rings will wow you! At present the planet's rings are nearly closed at a ring tilt of 4.0º in June. They will continue to close to exactly edge-on in September. Image Unfortunately, the Lord of Less Rings sinks toward the western horizon into August's twilight zone and is out of sight in September when it is in conjunction with the Sun. The maximum ring tilt of 27º occurred in 2003.

Star Gazer's 5-minute video from the week of 1/12-18/09 shows the movement of Saturn's rings over time. I highly recommend watching this fun video for its explanation of Saturn's shrinking rings and wonderful "ring dance" animation. Why Are Saturn's Rings Disappearing?

BTW: The diminishing reflective surface of the rings plus Saturn's increasing distance from Earth are creating a dimming of the planet as seen from Earth.

Telescopic Saturn ~ Titan

Titan, Saturn's largest satellite, is bright and big enough to be seen in any telescope. The current geometry of the planet and its rings make this a great time to to view Titan crossing the globe of Saturn. In addition Saturn is at eastern quadrature June 5, when it lies 90º east of the setting Sun and the shadow of its globe is cast well off to its eastern side. This adds to one's viewing pleasure of Titan.

... the most exciting times to view Titan come when it enters Saturn's shadow or its dark shadow crosses Saturn's bright cloud tops. Astronomy Magazine 6/09

Mark your calendar!

North American observers have front row seats for both of these thrilling events.

A transit of Titan's shadow begins Saturday, May 30 at 9:32pm PDT (12:32am EDT 5/31). Another occurs Monday, June 15 starting at 7:40pm PDT (10:40pm EDT). These transits can last 5 hours or more depending on the time Saturn sets in your area. Seeking Saturn’s Moons can guide your observations of Titan as well as Saturn's 4 other brightest satellites.

It takes Titan 16 minutes to totally disappear into Saturn's shadow. Begin watching Monday, June 8 at 12:34am CDT (10:34pm PDT 6/7). Sadly, Saturn has already set below the horizon for East Coasters. There is a repeat performance Tuesday, June 23 starting at 11:45pm CDT (9:45pm PDT). East Coasters miss out again.

BTW: You can generate a view of Saturn's ring tilt and shadow for any day as seen from the Earth (choose 30% of the image).

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Jupiter ~ Triple Eclipse ~ March 28, 2004
It's Moon Shadow Season on Jupiter Again!

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The Hubble Space Telescope used its infrared camera, NICMOS, to observe Jupiter and captured this rare triple eclipse on March 28, 2004. It caught two Jovian moons, Io and Ganymede, as well as their shadows, plus it caught the shadow of Callisto! Such triple shadows occur only a couple of times each decade.

Astronomers used a new technique to capture the shadows. They slewed Hubble much faster than usual and snapped many frames as the telescope swung around. They then stitched the individual snapshots into a single overall image. Above description adapted from: Astronomy Magazine 2/05

Viewed from Jupiter's perspective, these shadow crossings would be seen as solar eclipses, analogous to our Moon crossing in front of the Sun and it's shadow being projected on the sunlit face of planet Earth. Historically, timing the eclipses of Jupiter's moon Io allowed astronomer Ole Roemer to make the first accurate measurement of the speed of light in 1676. Adapted from: APOD 11/11/04

It's Moon Shadow Season on Jupiter Again!

In 2009 Earth is moving through the plane of Jupiter's satellites, allowing the its Galilean Moons to line up in their special 6-year geometry. These moons, passing one in front of another, plus their shadows crossing the surface of Jupiter are grabbing the attention of those with telescopes. Professional astronomers are organizing a worldwide observing campaign to record as many of these events as possible. Click here for details.

Jupiter's 2009 Satellite Phenomena ~ Complete List

Jupiter’s Moons
Sky & Telescope’s JavaScript utility helps
locate Jupiter’s four brightest satellites anytime
between January 1900–December 2100.
It also lists the satellite phenomena for the chosen day.

Jupiter is a predawn planetary beauty, rising in the southeast around 1:30am in the beginning of Gemini and at midnight by its end. Its beacon of brilliant light is a heart's delight for night owls or early birds. At magnitude -2.6 Jupiter far outshines any stars in its vicinity. It continues to brighten and ascend higher as the months unfold. 

Jupiter and Neptune

Jupiter is located in the dim constellation Capricornus very near telescopic Neptune. Both are in exact conjunction three times in 2009. Jupiter's prograde (easterly) motion causes a Neptune conjunction May 27; Jupiter's retrograde (westerly) motion creates another exact joining July 10 and once again the prograde motion creates an exact pairing December 21. 5/26 3:30am Map

The Jupiter-Neptune several month conjunction surrounds the start of a new Jupiter-Neptune 12.7-year cycle occurring in September, which continues into 2022. The few month period ahead, from June through December inspires expansive visions and ideals, and brings the mobilizing force to bring them into fulfillment. Also synthesizing with Chiron [*], this is just what we need to cross the vast abyss that our world faces. Nick Fiorenza 5/24/09-6/22/09 Lunar Cycle

Jupiter is retrograde June 15 - October 11 and Neptune is retrograde May 28/29 - November 3. This means they both are in close proximity to Earth and we feel their energies more potently as a result.

The waning Gibbous Moon guides us to Jupiter 6/13. 6/13 5am Sky Chart Click Moon Dances for an additional map and meditative reflections.

Jupiter reaches opposition August 14 and Neptune reaches opposition three days later.

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Predawn's Planetary Pair
What's the Weather on Our Neighboring Planets?
Mars      Venus

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The weather on Mars: another cool and clear day. Low morning haze will give way to a mostly sunny afternoon with high clouds. The forecast for Venus: hot, overcast, sulfuric acid showers will continue. Air quality is slightly improved as smog levels subside.

March 21, 1995: The Hubble telescope has given astronomers a peak [at the weather]. The telescope is serving as an interplanetary weather satellite for studying the climate on Earth's neighboring worlds, Mars and Venus.

To the surprise of researchers, Hubble is showing that the Martian climate has changed considerably since the unmanned Viking spacecraft visited the Red Planet in the mid-1970s. The Hubble pictures indicate that the planet is cooler, clearer, and drier than a couple of decades ago. In striking contrast, Hubble's observations of Venus show that the atmosphere continues to recover from an intense bout of sulfuric "acid rain," triggered by the suspected eruption of a volcano in the late 1970s. Full News Release Story

Venus and Mars are predawn's planetary pair, rising within 15 minutes of each other. Begin looking for them in the beginning of Gemini around 4:00am and by the end around 3:15am. Enjoy the duo until sunrise.

Venus is the dazzling one of the duo blazing at magnitude -4.4, while Mars glows much dimmer at magnitude 1.1, similar to Pollux of the Gemini Twins. Venus is bright enough to follow into the daylight sky, while binoculars help in spotting Mars in dawn's early light. Much better views of our Red Planet occur at the end of the year.

The predawn pair exit the constellation Pisces and enter the constellation Aries, as they move closer to each other with an exact conjunction June 21. Use these two sky views for orientation: 6/5 4:30am Map ~ 6/13 5am Sky Chart  BTW: Look south and you'll see Jupiter's beacon of light and in June look low on the east-northeastern horizon just before sunrise to see the reappearance of Mercury.

The waning Crescent Moon guides us to Mars and Venus June 19. 6/19 4:45am Map Click Moon Dances for an additional map and meditative reflections.

Note: Though Venus reaches greatest elongation (46º) June 5, its altitude above the horizon increases during June.

Telescopic Venus and Mars

Focus a telescope on Venus and the most you'll see is the disk size and phase. No surface features are visible due to its thick cloud cover. During June Venus is waxing from a fat crescent phase to and almost first quarter phase, while its apparent diameter is decreasing.

Telecopic Mars shows very little during June. The view gets better in August. Mars unlike Venus is at a nearly full phase that is gradually decreasing, while its apparent diameter is gradually increasing.

Generate Phase & Apparent Disk Size of Venus and Mars
for any given date and time from 1700–2030.

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Crescent Mercury - In Subtle Color

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This is one of the first close-up images of Mercury captured by NASA’s MESSENGER just before its January 14, 2008 flyby. It is one of the first high-resolution pictures of the planet transmitted to Earth by a spacecraft in over 30 years, since the three Mercury flybys of Mariner 10 in 1974 and 1975.

This full color image of Mercury was taken by the Wide Angle Camera (WAC) filters in the infrared, far red, and violet wavelengths (red, green, and blue filters for this image.) MESSENGER’s eyes can see far beyond the color range of the human eye, and the colors seen in the above image are somewhat different from what a human would see. Full Press Release 1/22/08

Note: During June Mercury is waxing from a thin crescent to a fat gibbous phase. June 5 the telescopic phase of Mercury is similar to the one pictured above. Generate Mercury’s phase and see for yourself!

Mercury, stationary direct May 30, ascends out of the solar glare into the morning sky in June. Look for the planet hugging the east-northeast horizon just before sunrise.

June 13 Mercury reaches greatest western elongation (23º). At this time it rises a mere 6 degrees above the horizon and glows at magnitude 0.4 30 minutes before sunrise. Find an unobstructed horizon and bring binoculars for your viewing pleasure. 6/13 4:45am Map June 19 Mercury moves below the Pleiades star cluster, which marks the shoulder of the cosmic Bull, Taurus. 6/19 4:45am Map The morning of June 20 a sliver of an old Moon can be seen riding the shoulder of the Bull above Mercury. Click Moon Dances for an additional map and meditative reflections.

Know that as each day begins, Mercury the messenger of the gods and Taurus the Bull are inspiring and enlightening humanity to change desire into spiritual aspiration and true love. Play your part well.

The elusive planet gets brighter and a little lower as June ends, shining at magnitude -0.9 at an altitude of 5º, 30 minutes before sunrise.

The Planets
Is it a planet? ... What planet? When you look up at the night sky, how do you know you are looking at a planet? Learn what a plutoid is. Click here.

 

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Celestial Delights

So Long, Sirius ~ Good-Bye Until August!
The Christ Star Disappears May 24, 2009

[Image]

Sirius, Good-Bye! See you again at the beginning of August. Sirius, the brightest star in the heavens, is sinking very low on the west-southwest horizon as Gemini begins. Sirius reaches its heliacal setting in San Francisco May 23.

... the heliacal setting: the last visible setting of a star in the evening twilight. On the following evening, the star will pass below the horizon while there is still too much sunlight for it to be seen. Index to Time and Calendars / Rising and Setting of Stars

Sirius our spiritual Sun, which is sometimes referred to as the star of the Christ, disappears into the Sun’s glowing embrace soon after Ascension Day (May 21). It is no longer seen in San Francisco May 24, the day of the New Moon inaugurating the lunar cycle of Christ Festival. It’s as if the emanations of this star are aligning with our central luminary to flood the solar system with the Christ consciousness during the June 7 Full Moon. (see Goodwill Festival below) The "christening" of humanity is inherent during this cycle with the outpouring and inflowing energies.

Heliacal setting times for Sirius vary in different locations and over time. The heliacal setting for Sirius occurs, when the Sun is at the altitude of 0 degrees on the horizon and Sirius is at the altitude of 7 degrees. Sirius at an altitude of less 7 than degrees is hidden from our view by the Sun’s light. See Heliacal Rising & Setting of Sirius.

Heliacal Setting of Sirius in San Francisco
The Last Sighting of Sirius Until August 7, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2008 – Western Horizon at Sunset
Sun’s Altitude 0 Degrees ~ Sirius’ Altitude 7 Degrees

* Printable Image *

Curved yellow line across the bottom of the image represents the western horizon.

Sirius visibly rises again in the east August 7, 2009. Stay tuned for these details and how Sirius relates to the Dog Days of Summer in a future Night Sky.

... the heliacal rising: the first visible, though brief, appearance of a star on the eastern horizon before sunrise. On the previous morning, sunlight made the star invisible. When the rising of a star is spoken of, it is usually the heliacal rising that is meant. In ancient Egypt, the heliacal rising of Sirius coincided with the annual rising of the Nile at Memphis. Index to Time and Calendars / Rising and Setting of Stars

 

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The Festival of Goodwill, which occurs at the time of the Full Moon on Sunday, June 7 at 11:12am PDT; 18:12 UT, inaugurates the third of the Three Major Planetary Festivals. The energies released at the Goodwill Festival are forces of the Divine Will that affect the nations of the world. These reconstructive energies can increase the aspect of national life or they can increase the potency of the objectives of world unity, peace and progress. With the keynotes of goodwill and "humanity, aspiring to God," this festival is also observed as the Festival of the Spirit of Humanity, the Christ Festival, the Festival of Unification and World Invocation Day.

The Goodwill Festival Links Us to the Heart of our Galaxy!
Journey Toward Its Central Stars!

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Journey Toward the Central Stars (5.6M) ~ Video of the above Image (3M)

In this unparalleled picture of the Milky Way's heart, stars are seen ablaze around the galaxy’s center. Wavelengths of infrared light were used to penetrate the interstellar dust clouds that block our view of the Milky Way.

After 16 years of tracking the motions of 28 stars circling the galactic heart, dedicated European astronomers have gathered the best evidence yet that black holes exist and we have a super massive one at the center of our galaxy.

Just as swirling leaves caught in a gust of wind can provide clues about air currents, so the stars' movements reveal information about forces at work at the galactic centre.

The observations show that the stars orbit a central concentration of mass four million times greater than that of the Sun … The galaxy's central mass, long suspected of being a giant black hole, is known as ‘Sagittarius A star’.

The astronomers were also able to measure with great accuracy how far the Earth is from the centre of the galaxy - a distance of 27,000 light years. Daily Mail Reporter

The 1992-2008 European Southern Observatory study used the 3.5 metre New Technology Telescope and the Very Large Telescope - (an array of four 8.2 metre telescopes) for their observations. The NNT and VLT operate from the Atacama desert in Chile. See the ESO Press Release 12/10/08 for additional information.

What would our Milky Way Galaxy look like with its bright central bulging heart, if we weren’t stuck inside and could see through the opaque dust with our normal vision? Nobody knows for sure. Milky Way Illustrated and Barred Spiral Milky Way, however, are two good guesses based on many different types of observations. 6/3/08 findings show two major arms and two minor arms, not 4 major arms. In addition the stars and material of our galaxy, rather than neatly circling the galactic center as previous maps assumed, they are surprisingly tracing an elliptical orbit. A 180-foot poster, the largest picture of the Milky Way was unveiled 6/3/08. See the Poster ~ Read the Description (Btw, the video at this link crashed my internet).

Gemini’s Annual Festival in the Heavens
The Heart of our Galaxy Blesses the Earth

This Christ festival is as old as the earth itself. At the time of the solstice full moon a special festival is held in the spirit realms, a ceremony at which Christ the Sun comes among His disciples and pours a special blessing, a tremendous outpouring of love upon the earth, which is light and truth and beauty, which is in fact spiritual food. Grace Cooke guided by White Eagle / White Eagle on the Great Spirit

During Gemini with each Goodwill Festival there is a festival in the heavens. It occurs as the Full Moon enters the white ether of the Milky Way.

The white ether is the level of consciousness where all souls can hold communion with the Son of God, the Cosmic Christ. White Eagle On Festivals and Celebrations

This is the place of reunion, of true kinship, the place of cosmic consciousness. It is a place within the galactic magnetic field. It is from here that we receive an exceptional spiritual outpouring into our hearts from the spiritual Sun, Sirius. This galactic magnetic field carries this blessing to ALL on Earth during this time. Its highest effect is world unity. Audio Version (1:16 minutes)

Each Goodwill Festival Sagittarius, the centaur archer, points his arrow at both Antares, the red heart star of Scorpius, and the Goodwill Full Moon positioned at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, the family of 200 billion stars to which we and our Sun belong. Image The Milky Way is widest in Sagittarius and Scorpius because the great bulging central hub, the heart of our galaxy, also known as the galactic center, is in this direction.

... the Galactic Center surges like a Roman candle of infrared energy. Emanations of infrared energy (IFR) blast down upon us and perform two primary functions on our awareness.

First, IFR opens up the subconscious mind. This opening asks us to release and forget emotional trauma.... Second, IFR blasts open the root chakra in the energy system. This chakra releases the old, regenerates our energy, and lifts us off our duffs with renewed inspiration and a sense of real progress.

The Galactic Center acts like a satellite dish, directing divinely inspired information straight to the potentially receptive gray matter of our brains. If you believe in God, this might be the voice you hear. Regardless, within this connection you have the ability to pull down wild information which you would otherwise have no way of knowing. Phil Sedgwick The Astrology of Deep Space

Click Moon Dances for a Full Moon map and meditative reflections.

Goodwill to All ...
... and to All, the Will-to-Good

Printable Date Tables

Lunar Cycle 4/24-5/24

Lunar Cycle 5/24-6/22

I'd like to know your thoughts about The Night Sky and
if you'd like reminders to Look Up! ...
send me an email.
May your Night Sky traveling always be filled
with Celestial Delights and Treats!
Susan Sun

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