Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers Report for Monday June 1st through Sunday June 7th.
The moon is full on Tuesday June 2nd and we'll have a waning gibbous moon for the remainder of the week. The full moon of June is known as the Flower Moon, the Strawberry Moon, the Rose Moon, and the Honey Moon.
Mars is still technically in our evening skies, but is now too close to the sun to be seen as it heads towards conjunction at mid-month.
Venus is the lower of the two bright planets in our western skies at sunset. Looking at Venus in a telescope will reveal that it is now only 50% illuminated and it looks like a miniature first quarter moon. Venus is setting at 11:45 p.m. at mid-week and is at greatest eastern elongation on Saturday the 6th.
A little above and to the left of Venus is Jupiter, which will be gradually moving closer to Venus all month. Jupiter is setting at 12:45 a.m. this week.
Over in the eastern skies, Saturn is rising at 7:15 p.m. and is now well-placed to be observed almost all night. Saturn is setting at 5:55 a.m. Look for Saturn to the upper right of the moon on Monday night.
In space anniversaries this week, Wednesday June 3rd marks the 50th anniversary of the first spacewalk by an American astronaut by Ed White as part of the Gemini 4 mission. White was outside the capsule for about 20 minutes while Command Pilot James McDivitt remained inside the spacecraft.
Public viewing on UT campus telescopes will resume next week. Please check back for details on starting dates and times.
Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers Report.
