Your guide to the starsYou can use the chart as a guide when looking at the night sky. The chart shows the sky as it will be at 11:30 p.m. early in the month, 10:30 p.m. at mid-month, and 9:30 p.m. late in the month.Hold the chart so the direction you are facing is at the bottom. For example, if you are facing north, turn the chart around so the “N” representing north is at the bottom as you hold it out in front of you. The center of the chart represents the portion of the sky you see if you look straight up.To keep your eyes adjusted to the darkness as you look a the night sky, use a red-light flashlight to view the chart. You can make your own by putting red cellophane over the light or by coloring the lens of the flashlight with a red marker pen.SunJune 1 – Sunrise: 6:24 a.m.; Sunset: 8:29 p.m. / June 15 – Sunrise: 6:23 a.m.; Sunset: 8:35 p.m. / June 30 – Sunrise: 6:27 a.m.; Sunset: 8:37 p.m. [Times exact for Waco, TX]MoonJune 4: Full / June 11: 3rd Quarter / June 19: New / June 26: 1st Quarter Night Sky EventsHeld at arm’s length, the width of your fist is 10º and the width of your index finger is 1º. The width of a full Moon is ½º. [** = don’t miss events]4 Mon.: The full Moon, called the Flower Moon, Rose Moon, Strawberry Moon, and Honey Moon, aligns to create a morning partial eclipse of the Moon that favors the far southwestern U.S. Our central U.S., and further east, likely won’t have much worth trying to see.** 5 Tue.: Transit of Venus, when Venus, at inferior conjunction between the Sun and Earth, passes across the face of the Sun as seen from Earth. 11 Mon. morning: The Moon is at 3rd quarter.12 Tue. morning: Jupiter passes 5 degrees to the lower right of the Pleiades star cluster near the eastern horizon 30-45 minutes before sunrise; binoculars will help with the Pleiades. 17 Sun. morning: A thin crescent Moon has lots of company as it hovers low above the eastern horizon 30-45 minutes before sunrise; Venus is 6 degrees below the Moon near the horizon while Jupiter is 2 degrees to the Moon’s upper right, and the Pleiades star cluster is 5 degrees to the upper left. Again, binoculars will help. 19 Tue.: The Moon is new.20 Wed. morning: Venus is 3 degrees to the upper left of the reddish star Aldebaran low in the east 45 minutes before sunrise; Jupiter is 7 degrees above. 20 Wed.: Summer solstice – the beginning of summer and longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere – and the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere.21 Thu. early evening: Four objects align low in the west an hour after sunset with the crescent Moon near the horizon; Mercury is 7 degrees to the upper right with Pollux is 5 degrees further to the upper right and Castor yet another 5 degrees. (Pollux and Castor are the Gemini Twins.)22 Fri. evening: For binoculars or telescopes: The darkened side of the crescent Moon passes within a hair of the star cluster M67 very low in the west at dark with the Beehive star cluster 8 degrees to their upper right. 23 Sat. evening: The Moon is 8 degrees below the star Regulus, and then 10 degrees to the star’s left the next evening. 25 Mon. evening: The Moon is 8 degrees below Mars, and then 10 degrees to its left the next evening. 26 Tue. evening: The Moon is at 1st quarter. 27 Wed. evening: The star Spica is 5 degrees to the upper left of the Moon with Saturn another 5 degrees to the star’s upper right in the southwest; all three will nearly fit within the same field of view of most 7X binoculars.30 Sat. evening: The Moon is 7 degrees to the upper right of the star Antares in the S. 30 Sat. evening: Mercury, at its best for viewing, is at greatest elongation 26 degrees east of the setting Sun.Naked-eye PlanetsThe Sun, Moon and planets rise in the east and set in the west due to Earth’s west-to-east rotation on its axis.Evenings: Mars, Saturn, Mercury (later in the month)Morning: Jupiter, Venus (later in the month)* Mercury starts the month in the Sun but quickly emerges low in the west; it spends the rest of the month in the evening sky, climbing highest from the setting Sun the last day of the month.* Venus begins the month in the Sun but soon emerges low in the east to begin its stint as the “morning star.” * Mars, high in the southwest in the evening, sets in the wee hours of morning.* Jupiter begins the month rising at dawn but by month’s end is well up in the east before dawn. * Saturn is high in the south in the evening and sets well before dawn. Transit of VenusJune 5, from late afternoon until sunset, Venus passes directly across the face of the Sun – something that won’t happen again until 2117 – but seeing this event requires the proper equipment to avoid permanent eye damage. Amateur astronomers in many areas will be setting up safe viewing sites so watch the media for locations. Check my website (www.stargazerpaul.com/ecl-tov.htm) for viewing information in the Waco area. To read more about the transit, see my previous Stargazer column (www.stargazerpaul.com/sg-2012.htm). Circumpolar Region of SummerAs Earth rotates on its axis, the North Star is always straight up from Earth’s North Pole, hence the star’s formal name, Polaris. And as Earth rotates, Polaris always appears in the same location while all the other stars rotate around it in a counterclockwise direction every 24 hours. [Technically, Polaris is almost exactly straight up, being less than 1 degree off. And the stars make one complete rotation every 23 hours and 56 minutes – a star (sidereal) day rather than a solar day. But those are topics for another time.]Two characteristics of Polaris’ location led to its designation, many years ago, as “the most practically useful star in the heavens.” First, owing to its being straight up from Earth’s North Pole, it is, as every Boy and Girl Scout knows, always seen in the north from any place in the Northern Hemisphere. (It is of no help in the Southern Hemisphere as it is never visible from below the equator; and since there is no naked-eye star straight up from Earth’s South Pole, there is no convenient South Star.) The second characteristic is less well-known but equally important. From any location in the Northern Hemisphere, Polaris’ altitude above the horizon equals the latitude of that location. For example, from my home in Waco at latitude 31 degrees north, Polaris is always seen 31 degrees above our horizon. By measuring Polaris’ altitude in degrees, explorers could determine their latitude. (Finding their longitude was more complicated and Polaris was of no help, but that’s for another discussion.)The part of the night sky that rotates around Polaris and never goes below the horizon is called the Circumpolar Region. This region contains six constellations, at least part of which are always above the horizon: Ursa Major and Minor, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Draco, and Camelopardalis.Ursa Major and Minor, thetures see it as a dipper. Among the many visualizations are a plow, wagon, and bear being chased by three Indian braves. The Little Dipper is composed of mostly fainter stars and more difficult to make out, but its claim to fame is the star at the end of its handle – Polaris. This time of year during the evenings, the dippers are above Polaris, unlike the fall when they are below and near the northern horizon. From our more southerly latitudes, most of the Big Dipper even sinks just below the horizon for a time in the fall.Cassiopeia and Cepheus, the queen and king of the constellations, are on the other side of Polaris from the Big Dipper. They are lower and nearer the horizon during spring and summer evenings, but are prominent during the evenings of fall and winter. The long and winding Draco the dragon looks more like a cosmic snake. Even though most of his stars are not very bright, its fun to trace his pattern as he starts between the dippers, winds around the Little Dipper, and then turns his head back up toward the bright star Vega.The final Circumpolar Region constellation is Camelopardalis the giraffe. Although quite large, it is composed of such faint stars that it appears to be a virtually empty area of the sky – so don’t waste your time trying to make out the constellation.The Central Texas Astronomical Society’s simultaneous free monthly star parties are Sat., June 9, at the Lake Waco Wetlands, Belton’s Overlook Park on Stillhouse Hollow, and Hubbard City Lakes Park beginning at dark. CTAS owns and operates the Meyer Observatory at the Turner Research Station near Clifton, TX; the next monthly observatory open house is also Sat., June 9, 8-10 p.m. www.centexastronomy.org for more information. large and small bears, are better known by the unofficial patterns within each, the Big and Little Dippers. The Big Dipper is composed of relatively bright stars and is one of the best-known patterns in the Northern Celestial Hemisphere, although not all cul