Saturday, June 20Even in you werent able to view yesterdays occultation of Venus by the Moon, you can still spot the bright planet this morning. About an hour before sunrise, Venus is 2.5 high in the east-northeast and climbing as the sky brightens. It glows at magnitude 4.6; through a telescope, youll see its a crescent just 9 percent lit. The entire disk spans 51".

Above Venus in the sky this morning is the Pleiades star cluster (M45), also called the Seven Sisters although how many of those seven you can make out depends on factors such as your own eyesight and the brightness of the sky (or your viewing site). Without optical aid, most people can easily count six stars in the small, dipper-shaped cluster. Can you see all seven?

The Pleiades is also an excellent object for your binoculars or small scope. Spanning about 110', the cluster actually contains more than 1,000 members, although most are invisible even with optical aid.

The summer solstice occurs today at 5:44 P.M. EDT, marking the first day of Northern Hemisphere summer.

Sunday, June 21New Moon occurs at 2:41 A.M. EDT.

An annular solar eclipse can be seen by observers in parts of Africa and southern Asia today. Greatest eclipse will occur near the India-China border, with a 38-second duration and 99 percent coverage. Annular eclipses take place when the Moon completely covers the Sun (as with a total solar eclipse); but sometimes, either the Moon is too close to Earth or Earth is too close to the Sun for the Sun and Moons apparent sizes to match up. When that happens, a thin ring of sunlight remains visible even at greatest eclipse.

Slooh will be broadcasting the event live online on YouTube:

Monday, June 22Look west after sunset to see Leo the Lions stately figure headed down toward the horizon as the night progresses. Regulus, Leos magnitude 1.4 alpha star, is envisioned as the Lions heart. Lying very near the ecliptic plane, this star is often occulted by the Moon. Regulus also marks the base of the handle of the constellations Sickle asterism, whose hook is made up of several other bright stars to Regulus northwest. At the other end of the constellation, Denebola (Beta [] Leonis) marks Leos tail. This star shines at magnitude 2.1 and is a little over 1.5 times the Suns radius.

Within Leo are numerous bright galaxies, including the famous Leo Triplet of NGC 3628, M65, and M66 Each of these three spirals is tilted differently with respect to our line of sight, making each look quite distinct from its companions. Youll find the group a little over 7 west-southwest of Denebola, and less than 3 south-southeast of magnitude 3.3 Chertan (Theta [] Leonis).

Follow this link:

The Sky This Week from June 19 to 26 - Astronomy Magazine