June will be an interesting month in the sky. Saturn and Venus will be far enough from the Sun to be seen easily before dawn. Saturn will lead the way and will be unmistakable in the southeastern sky in the western end of the large, dim constellation Pisces (the Fish). Brilliant Venus will follow and be in the eastern part of Pisces during the first half of June. This will give some idea of the size of Pisces although more of the constellation will extend above Venus.

Meanwhile, Mercury will have moved into the western, early evening sky where it will join departing Jupiter. They will pass each other on the evening of June 7, with Jupiter on the left. Unfortunately, they may be hard to spot even with binoculars since they will set about 45 minutes after sunset. In the days that follow, Jupiter will disappear, but Mercury will climb higher, although it will never get very high above the northwestern horizon.

Mars, the only planet that will be observed easily during June, will be in the southwestern sky. Although it will be dimming and gradually dropping lower as Earth leaves it behind, it should be easy to follow as its eastward orbital motion takes it out of Cancer (the Crab) and into Leo (the Lion). This motion will take it past Regulus, Leo’s brightest star, on about June 17.

Leo does resemble a crouching Lion. Its right, or westward, part looks like a backwards question mark with the bright star Regulus forming the dot at the bottom (south). Regulus represents the heart of the lion, and the dimmer upper parts of the backwards question mark represent his chest, mane, and head. There is then a gap to the left, or eastward, to where there is a right triangle that represents Leo’s hindquarters. The point of the triangle is the moderately bright star, Denebola, which forms the end of his tail. Leo can be found by using the “pointer” stars at the front of the Big Dipper’s bowl. They point out the open part of the bowl northward to the North Star, and they point southward about four fist widths at arm’s length to Leo. In Greek mythology, Leo was the Nemean lion that fell from the Moon and ravaged the countryside around Corinth until it was killed by Hercules as the first of his 12 labors. To the Romans, it represented Bacchus, god of wine, who often dressed in a lion skin.

Finally, there is a smattering of dim stars between the now upside-down constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear), which includes the Big Dipper, and the front part of Leo. These stars were not assigned to any constellation until the astronomer Johannes Hevelius used them in 1687 to form Leo Minor (the Little Lion) to fill the gap between the constellations.

Observing Highlights

-June 1: The Moon will be close to the right of Regulus in Leo (the Lion) at nightfall. Mars will be to their lower right.

-June 4: The Moon will be to the upper right of Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo (the Maiden). The Moon will move eastward in its orbit and will be to the lower left of Spica on the 5th.

-June 9: The bright Moon will rise to the right of Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius (the Scorpion).

-June 17: Mars will pass very close to Regulus, the brightest star in Leo (the Lion). They will be close from the 13th to 18th.

-June 18: Before dawn, the Moon will be to the upper right of Saturn. On the 19th, it will be to Saturn’s lower left.

-June 20: Summer arrives in the northern hemisphere with the summer solstice. This is the shortest night of the year.

-June 22: Before dawn, the Moon will be to the left or upper left of brilliant Venus.

-June 26: The thin crescent Moon will be to the right of Mercury very low in the northwestern sky.

-June 28: Star Party sponsored by Grout Museum & Black Hawk Astronomy Club, Prairie Grove Park, Waterloo, 9-10:30. The Moon again will be to the right of Regulus, but Mars will have moved in its orbit and will be to their left.

-June 29: The Moon and Mars will be very close together below the middle part of Leo (the Lion).