Whitby & District Astronomical Society

Jupiter continues to dominate the late evening sky across in the SW, but is now sliding down toward the horizon.  It resides in the constellation of Virgo not too far above its chief star Spica, which will depart from view in July.   Observations of Jupiter are always rewarding, even modest instruments will reveal the dark banding across the disk and the Galilean moons; the configuration of which alters each night.  Jupiter’s major storm the; the great red spot is apparent in a larger scope, but only when orientated to us, Jupiter rotates in less than ten hours.  The Moon lies nearby Jupiter on the 1^st and 28^th

Saturn, although not as bright as Jupiter, is nonetheless still conspicuous low to the south, a pearly white “star” of magnitude + 0.1.  It resides in the constellation of Ophiuchus –the serpent bearer.  A modest telescope will reveal the glorious ring system, which is orientated favourably at present; but you will have to be patient at the eyepiece and wait for those steady seeing moments which will make all the difference to the image.  Careful observation will reveal a speck of light close by Saturn; this is Titan, Saturn’s major moon.  Our moon lies near Saturn on the 6^th.  

Venus is now putting on a good show in the dawn sky; around 03:30-04:15h.  Look for a brilliant object low to the east.  Venus resides in Taurus and will be in conjunction with Aldebaran (the fiery eye of the bull) on the 14^th.   A waning crescent moon then joins the party on the 20^th, making for a pleasing vista.