{"id":45441,"date":"2023-06-04T07:02:10","date_gmt":"2023-06-04T07:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=119187"},"modified":"2023-06-04T07:32:28","modified_gmt":"2023-06-04T07:32:28","slug":"star-diary-5-to-11-june-2023","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/star-diary-5-to-11-june-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Diary: 5 to 11 June, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keep an eye on the supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy, M101, while the Moon passes under Saturn in this week’s stargazing guide. <\/p>

By Ezzy Pearson\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 04 June 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

What\u2019s in the night sky in the week of 5 to 11 June, 2023 in our weekly stargazing guide. This week the Moon passes under Saturn, and you might be able to catch a new supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy, M101.<\/p>\n\n

Chris Bramley <\/strong>Hello and welcome to Star Diary, the podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. You can subscribe to the print edition of the magazine by visiting www.skyatnightmagazine.com<\/a> or digital edition by visiting on iTunes or Google Play.<\/p>\n

Ezzy Pearson <\/strong>Greetings, listeners, and welcome to Star Diary, a weekly guide to the best things to see in the northern hemisphere\u2019s night sky. In this episode, we\u2019ll be covering the coming week from the 5 \u2013 11 June. I\u2019m Ezzy Pearson, the magazine\u2019s features editor. And I\u2019m joined on the podcast today by reviews editor Paul Money. Hello, Paul.<\/p>\n

Paul Money <\/strong>Hello Ezzy. Are you looking forward to seeing what\u2019s in the sky then?<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>I am. What are your recommendations for the coming week, Paul? Please do tell us.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Well, I\u2019m going to be kind to everybody. Let\u2019s start in the evening sky, shall we? Although, to be fair, is getting later and later, isn\u2019t it? Now we\u2019re heading towards the summer. You know, the light nights. It means that you don\u2019t have to wait until at least 10pm, 10:30 before it even starts to get dark. And you\u2019ve still got quite bright twilight at that point. So it\u2019s just the way it works, doesn\u2019t it? But let\u2019s start in the evening sky. And you can\u2019t fail\u2013 we\u2019ve mentioned that time and time again, but we\u2019ve actually got Venus<\/a> and Mars<\/a> in the evening sky. And the beauty is, sort of thing, is like a bit of a dance with Mars and Venus. Venus will not catch up with Mars. Mars will always stay slightly ahead of it. So\u2026 But is fascinating to watch the gap narrowing between them. And so on 11th, we\u2019re looking at Venus and Mars are they\u2019re actually either side of the beehive cluster on 9th. So although they\u2019re visible all week, it\u2019s well worth looking at them. So I think as they get closer and closer to the Beehive [Cluster]<\/a>. Now, Mars passed through the Beehive<\/a> the other week, so hopefully people got photographs of that, but it\u2019ll soon be the turn of Venus itself. So it\u2019s quite fascinating. But you\u2019ve got to bear in mind we\u2019ve got the twilight, so the Beehive cluster won\u2019t be as easy to see in the bright twilight sort of thing. So on 9th in bright twilight around about 10:30 in the evening, and they\u2019lll be either side of the Beehive Cluster itself. Now we have to switch to the morning sky. I know, I know. Because a lot of our events involve the Moon, and so the Moon is in the morning sky and funnily enough, on the 9th, morning of the 9th, the Moon is to the far right of Saturn. It\u2019s actually just in Capricornus, but literally on the bound\u2026 I mean, we can\u2019t see the boundaries in the sky, can we, Ezzy<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>No we can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>It would be handy wouldn\u2019t it? To see all the boundaries and the patterns in the sky, it.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>Would make navigating a lot easier if you could see the lines. Yes, that is true.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Mind you with virtual reality we\u2019re getting to that point anyway, aren\u2019t we? So on 9th, the Moon is to the right of Saturn. On 10th, though, it\u2019s to the lower left. It\u2019s almost underneath it in actual fact. And that\u2019s over in the sort of the south east. So they\u2019re well up. Saturn is well up now to actually observe, if you like. I say, you probably get up in the middle of the night sort of thing. Well worth having a look at. This is about 3:30AM. So the sky is already beginning to get brighter, as I say. So we\u2019re almost getting perpetual light skies all through the night. So on the 9ht-10th the moon passes under Saturn it\u2019s closest on 10th, when it should actually be at last quarter phase. So it looked like a half moon, but the other half this time, instead of what we see in the evening sky. Then on 11th, it lies in the lower right of Neptune<\/a>. But you\u2019ve got to bear in mind, Neptune,\u00a0 around about +8.5 magnitude, it\u2019s faint. You\u2019ve got twilight as well. So binoculars<\/a> or a telescope really are required for the actual planet itself. It\u2019s just one of those things. Now, if you keep an eye out, you might be lucky enough if you keep watching. And of course, you always got to be careful you don\u2019t catch the sunrise. But to their far left over in the east, Jupiter<\/a> is beginning to emerge. Now, being a bright planet, you\u2019re lucky because like Venus and Jupiter, the two that you see\u2026 The first in a bright twilight sky, they don\u2019t have to be dark. Sort of thing, to actually see them, so they stand out reasonably well. So Jupiter is emerging, so see if you can see Jupiter. Now, you have to bear in mind, at the time of recording, we\u2019re still waiting for noctilucent clouds<\/a>! They\u2019re supposed to have started. You know, now I haven\u2019t got a brilliant northern horizon, I have to say. But I find if I go out into the street, I can look up towards the northeast and so, north west, and I can actually see whether they\u2019re there. And I\u2019ve been popping out and I think the neighbours must think I\u2019m crackers because I\u2019m always popping out, standing in the middle street, looking towards the north, and then shaking my head and walking back in. But they should be starting. And unfortunately the NASA\u2019s satellite that usually monitors this thing is faulty. So they\u2019re not at the moment get in the images and often they would give us a bit of a clue as to whether they started or not. So it\u2019s a little bit frustrating but then it just reminds me of the time. Well, we didn\u2019t have a satellite in the past, we waited until literally we saw them in the sky, but hope they soon start.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>It\u2019s recently it sort of occurred to me that I have one relatively clear view out of my back garden that sort of gets through the rows of houses and trees and various things, and that is pointing towards the northeast. So this year I\u2019m going to be on the lookout for noctilucent clouds. I really want to see one this year. So hopefully they\u2019ll be some overhead.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>They\u2019re quite ephemeral and quite amazing, to be honest. I mean, I put them on a par with a good aurora display because you could get a good noctilucent cloud, they\u2019re just so ephemeral and wispy and silvery blue as well. And of course, in north east, you either bear in mind you have to be up for that one because that\u2019s in the morning sky. They generally form in the north west in the evening and gradually drift round, until they drift into north and then to the north-east for the morning before the sun actually rises. So fingers crossed we, we\u2019ll keep looking out for them and you know, you never know you might actually get them. Now it\u2019s a funny old week because apart from the Moon passing the planets, that\u2019s the major events. But we do now\u2013 we\u2019re losing in the spring sky. So what I\u2019ll call galaxy season, we\u2019re losing that. And the light nights aren\u2019t very favourable for galaxy hunting, especially face on galaxies.Makes them pretty hard to say anyway, so. But now we\u2019re getting into the summer sky<\/a> and we\u2019re only a couple of weeks away really from the summer solstice<\/a>. Although we\u2019ve got light skies, the summer Milky Way<\/a> is now coming into view. And I always think there\u2019s two things to this. You\u2019ve got a) the Milky Way, so you can view it with binoculars and pick out the open clusters, the the star clouds and the gaps, which is the actual dark clouds obscuring the stars behind and also globular clusters<\/a>. And I find globular clusters because they\u2019re concentrated, they tend to be, you know, a little bit more visible than, say, galaxies. So the bright globules do stand out as fuzzy blobs in the sky when you\u2019re looking. So this is the time now we can start watching out for globular clusters and the Milky Way as well. So hopefully, you know, with the Moon in the morning sky, you might catch the evening sky. So just before midnight and you get the Milky Way rising over in the east to south east, Cygnus<\/a> is over in the east and Sagittarius<\/a> is over in the south east now. And of course, that\u2019s where the centre of the Galaxy appears to lie from our point of view. But there we are. Reasonably busy week. But I say nothing very specific, but I do like the idea of Mars and Venus, either side of the Beehive Cluster, so I\u2019m trying to get a wide field photograph of that.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>I do think that is the Mars and Venus have been particularly photogenic over the last couple of months, so I hope we get to see lots of those pictures. And of course, as always, you can send those in to us at www.skyatnightmagazine.com, go to the Astrophotography section and we always love to see all of your pictures and the best ones end up in the magazine. And one thing that we we haven\u2019t mentioned because it only actually happened a couple of weeks ago, which is the supernova that happened in M101<\/a>, which we have found out about after we\u2019d recorded our last podcast, but is supposed to be visible at least through a telescope of reasonable size, I believe, for the next couple of months. I think sort of probably about six inch up telescope is what you really need to be able to get to to grips with this in the Pinwheel Galaxy or M101<\/a>. Have you managed to get a look at it, Paul?<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>\u00a0Yes, I actually managed to photograph it finally. I mean, it\u2019s one of those things that photographically you can use a relatively modest telescope to pick it up because it was so bright. It reached around about just over magnitude +11., which I know naked eye is magnitude sort of like, +6 to +7. But, you know, binoculars can push. You\u2019ve large binoculars in particular push you down to magnitude +11. So technically the star outshone the Galaxy. So the amount of energy is just phenomenal. But, you know\u2026 But visually, you definitely need a larger telescope, a larger light bucket to be able to spot it easily as such. But, photographically stands out extremely well along one of the spiral arms. So it\u2019s quite something. So yeah, at least I\u2019ve bagged it. But I\u2019ve been waiting for those clear nights and we had a lot of so sea threat and high haze. But I did get it through the slight haze actually. I thought, I\u2019m going to do this. So, so I got the big telescope out and got it on it and I managed to pick up the supernova to 2023ixf<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>SN2023ixf. That is correct. I\u2019ve had to write it about 17,000 times.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>Yes. I mean, you know, I mean asteroids<\/a> are bad enough when they discover, you know, a comet sort of thing, but supernovae are in a class of their own when it comes to giving them a name.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>Yeah. One of the other good things about it was obviously, it\u2019s in the Pinwheel Galaxy, which is one of the more photographed galaxies out there. It\u2019s definitely a photogenic one, which was really helpful actually, because it turned out that a lot of people had been photographing it in the run up to it sort of finally actually being discovered and people went back through the pictures and sort of. Realised that they\u2019d had it a couple of days beforehand, which is been a great boon to scientists trying to study the thing. So that\u2019s always great.<\/p>\n

Paul <\/strong>That\u2019s half the battle, isn\u2019t it? Because, you know, usually we catch these things after they\u2019ve paid, you know, So it\u2019s one of those things that you hope that you pick it up just before, unfortunately it was discovered on the rise. So we were very lucky last year. So but, you know, at least I got it when it just peaked. So at least, I mean, it\u2019s here, but it takes a long fade. It will fade away over, as you say, the next few months. So, you know, it is a slow decline. So we should have it for a few weeks. But obviously the Moon will be coming up. But a magnitude +11 funnily enough, the moon may swamp out the Pinwheel Galaxy, but ironically, the star itself, the supernova, might actually still be visible. But which would be quite ironic. I mean, it does look funny because it is quite prominent. You know, the galaxy\u2019s are face on, and face on galaxies do tend to be a lot harder to see because if their edge on a lot of the light is concentrated towards the bulge. So it does appear intrinsically brighter. The face on is a bit of a nightmare. So it is a case of in the moonlight the galaxy may fade away into the background of the star. The supernova<\/a> should still be there.<\/p>\n

Ezzy <\/strong>Well, thank you very much, Paul, for taking us through next week\u2019s stargazing highlights. So to summarise those again on 9 June, we\u2019re looking forward to Venus and Mars will be straddling the Beehive cluster, but the pair will be visible throughout the week. Then on the 9th and 10th, the moon is going to pass under Saturn. On the 11th Neptune should be well placed to view, though you will need binoculars or a telescope to be able to see that one. Throughout the week. Keep an eye on the eastern horizon to watch as Jupiter emerges back into the night sky. Keep an eye out for NLCs on the evening horizon, and also maybe keep a lookout on the Pinwheel Galaxy M101 t to see if you can see that supernova. And of course, it\u2019s a great time to see the summer constellations as they begin to return to the night sky, as well as the Milky Way and globular clusters, which will be well placed to view from midnight onwards. So good luck, stargazing and hopefully we\u2019ll see you all here next week.<\/p>\n

If you want to find out even more spectacular sites that will be gracing the night sky this month, be sure to pick up a copy of BBC Sky at Night magazine, where we have a six page pull out sky guide with a full overview of everything worth looking up for throughout the whole month. Whether you like to look at the moon, the planets, or the deep sky, whether you use binoculars, telescopes or neither, our sky guide has got you covered with detailed star charts to help you track your way across the night sky. From all of us here at BBC Sky Night Magazine, goodbye.<\/p>\n

Chris Bramley <\/strong>Thank you for listening to this episode of Star Diary, the podcast from the makers of BBC Sky at Night magazine. For more of our podcasts, visit our website at www.skyatnightmagazine.com<\/a> or head to aCast, iTunes or Spotify.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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