Here’s a brief look at what’s going on in the Mile High City this week.

June 8:

General Meeting – Vera C. Rubin: From Astronomer to Observatory

🎤 DAS General Meeting – Vera C. Rubin: From Astronomer to Observatory with KaChun Yu of the Gates Planetarium: Free, In-person meeting at 📍Secular Hub: 7:00 PM
🌗 Last quarter Moon: 4:00 AM

June 9:

👀 Catch the much anticipated conjunction of Venus and Jupiter. These two bright planets have been moving closer together for week and will be close enough together to resolve with a pair of binoculars. They appear in the western sky in the constellation Gemini just after sunset.

June 10 (Rocky Mountain Star Stare Begins):

👀 Look for the waning crescent Moon next to Saturn. Look for our satellite next to the ringed planet in the constellation Pisces in the eastern sky from around 3:00 AM until sunrise.
👀 Check out Mercury as it reaches its highest point in the sky. This tiny planet never gets too far from the Sun, but tonight it will be at its farthest allowing it to reach its highest point in the sky visible from Earth.

June 14 (Dark Sky Weekend):

🌑 The New Moon reaches perigee, its closest distance to the Earth at 357,197km at 5:20 PM
🌑 The New Moon at perihelion, it’s closest point to the sun in its monthly orbit around the Earth at a distance of 1.0133 AU at 03:56 AM
🌑 New Moon: 8:54 PM

This Week’s Solar System Summary:

The Sun shifts from rising about 5:41 AM to 5:40 AM, while sunset moves from 8:20 PM to 8:23 PM, as Denver approaches the summer solstice and the year’s longest days.
The Moon rises in the evening at the start of the week and shifts into the late evening and overnight hours by the weekend, while moonset moves from the morning into the afternoon.
Venus remains the brightest object in the evening sky after the Moon, setting between 11:20 PM and 11:30 PM and providing excellent viewing opportunities after sunset.
Jupiter continues its slide into the western twilight and becomes increasingly difficult to observe. By the end of the week, it sets around 11:40 PM and is visible for only a short time after sunset.
Mercury reaches its best evening appearance of the season, lingering low above the western horizon after sunset. Observers with a clear western horizon should have their best opportunity in weeks to spot the innermost planet.
Mars and Saturn remain low in the eastern dawn sky. Saturn is slowly improving in visibility, while Mars remains a challenging target in bright morning twilight.
Uranus is largely lost in the Sun’s glare and not favorably placed for observation.
Neptune rises before sunrise and remains a difficult telescopic target low in the southeastern morning sky.

This Week’s Meteoric Activity:

You can keep track of the activity of meteor showers as well as those beyond the limits of visual observing by visiting the NASA Meteor Shower Portal.

Anthelion (ANT): 1:00 AM in western Leo near Regulus: About 2 per hour.
Daytime Arietids (ARI): Before dawn in eastern Aries: Less than 1 per hour visually from Denver. Primarily a daytime shower but occasional Earthgrazers may be seen before sunrise.
τ-Herculids (TAH): After dusk in Hercules: Less than 1 per hour. Very slow meteors.
June ε-Ophiuchids (JEO): Before dawn in Ophiuchus: Less than 1 per hour. Occasional bright meteor possible.
June Bootids (JBO): Before dawn in Boötes: Less than 1 per hour. Activity begins this week ahead of the June 21–22 peak.