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

June 16:

• Look for Mars within a degree of Regulus in the southwestern skies – Mars, the red planet glowing with its distinctive rusty hue, and Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo and known for its bluish-white color. will be easily seen with the naked eye, through binoculars, or in a single low-powered eyepiece through a telescope. Look for them at the base of the Sickle asterism in Leo in the western skies after the sun has set.
• Titan Shadow Transit across the face of Saturn – Titan transits occur only during the relatively brief time Earth and Saturn both lie nearly on the same plane, which coincides with when the rings appear approximately edge-on.: 2:21 AM – 8:00 AM

June 17:

• Astrophotography Special Interest Group (ASIG) – General Meeting for DAS Members: 7:00 PM (more info).

June 18:

• Moon at Ascending Node 3:41 AM
• Last Quarter Strawberry Moon: 1:19 PM

June 19 (Juneteenth):

• Look for the waning crescent Strawberry Moon near Saturn in the constellation Pisces in the early morning eastern sky.
• There is no Standley Lake Stargazing Program this week in observance of the Juneteenth holiday. 

June 20 (First Day of Summer):

• Summer Solstice – The Sun reaches the farthest point north of the celestial equator, which marks the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

June 21:

• Look for Mercury near Pollux in the constellation Gemini early evening western sky.Mercury, the small and speedy planet, and Pollux, the bright and warm-toned star in the constellation Gemini low in the western twilight sky.

June 22:

• Look for the a small sliver of the waning crescent Strawberry Moon near Venus in the constellation Aries in the early morning eastern sky.

Sky Map

• The pdf map of the night sky from SkyMaps.com can be found at https://www.skymaps.com/skymaps

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 local time in eastern Libra: 1 per hour.
• The Daytime Arietids (ARI): just before dawn local time in western Aries: less than 1 per hour.

Clear skies and happy stargazing!