Bright Venus ushers in summer

Jupiter is also easy to see during the month of June

You’ll need binoculars if you’re going to look for Mars this month. Shining at a faint mag. 1.7, Mars sits low in the WNW sky just after sunset in early June.

Jupiter, on the other hand, can be easily spotted high in the southern sky after the sun sets. At mag. -2.2 (remember, negative numbers always represent a brighter magnitude), Jupiter is brighter than any other evening object this month, except the moon. The best views of this celestial giant this month come before midnight, when Jupiter sits at its highest in the sky. On clear nights, use your binoculars or telescope to find Jupiter’s four largest moons — Io, Europa, Callisto and Ganymede — as they circle the planet from hour to hour and night to night.

Saturn reaches opposition (on the opposite side of the sun as seen from Earth) on June 15 and, as such, will be visible all night. On that date, Jupiter will be at its closest point to Earth and at its largest and brightest (mag. 0.0). The best views will

come from late evening until early morning, when Saturn is at its highest point in the SE sky. Saturn’s magnificent ring system is tilted 27 degrees towards Earth, and is open wider to our view this year than it has been since 2003.

Venus, at mag. -4.4, rules supreme in the pre-dawn, eastern sky about 2.5 hours before sunrise.

Look for the waning, crescent moon near Venus on the mornings of June 20 and 21. On June 30, Venus sits just to the right of the Pleiades (“The Seven Sisters”) star cluster.

Comet Johnson (C/2015 V2) should reach its peak brightness sometime this month. Currently shining at mag. 6, this first time visitor to our solar system, should be visible in binoculars to viewers under a dark sky all night long. Having passed at its closest to Earth on June 5, the comet will reach perihelion (its closest approach to the sun) on June 12, after which, it could brighten significantly, possibly to naked-eye magnitude.

Like Comet Johnson, Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak will be visible all night, though at a much reduced magnitude of 9.0. Your chances of seeing this comet will be better after the moon leaves the night sky around June 11. To find out more about these two comets, and to get accurate, up-to-date location charts, go to www. astronomy.com or www.skyandtelescope.com.

After a rather damp and cool spring, summer finally makes its official arrival (known as the summer solstice) here in the northern hemisphere on June 21 at 1:24 a.m. It also marks the official start of winter in the southern hemisphere. Meterologists are forecasting an abovenormal summer in terms of warm weather for us here in the Maritimes — let’s hope they’re right.

Until next month, clear skies.