texas

skywatchers report


Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers' Report for May 30th though June 4th.

The moon will be at first quarter on the night of Saturday the 3rd. The moon will group together with Mars and Saturn on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday night, Mars will be to the left of the crescent moon. On Wednesday, Saturn will be below the moon. With binoculars or a telescope with a wide field, you should be able to see the Beehive star cluster in between Saturn and the moon on the 31st. Saturn will be at its closest point to the Beehive cluster next Monday.

Jupiter is still bright in the southeast around 9 p.m. This week is a good one to catch Mercury if you have a good view of the western horizon. On June 3rd it will be less than a degree and a half from the center of the open star cluster M35.

Last Thursday was the 45th anniversary of the speech by President John F. Kennedy that called for “achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth.” At the time President Kennedy made this challenge the sum total of American spaceflight time was the 15 and a half minutes of Alan Shepherd’s sub-orbital flight just a few weeks before. Of course, the goal was achieved when Neil Armstrong stepped on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969.

There is currently no public viewing on the UT campus telescopes. Summer viewing will start in June. Please call back in the next week for more information.

Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers' Report.