Southern Skywatch June 2022 edition is now out!

  Morning sky on Saturday June 4 as seen from Adelaide at 6:17 am ACST (690 minutes before sunrise). Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury form a line (Uranus, Neptune ad the Asteroid Vest are in the line too, but all need at least binoculars to see) .

The insets show the telescopic appearance of the planets at this time. 

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).

The June edition of Southern Skywatch is now up. The planetary action is in the morning sky with five bright planets, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter in the morning sky. Towards mid-month Saturn is visible in the late evening sky.

June 1; Mars and Jupiter close in the morning sky. June 2; apogee Moon. June 8; First Quarter Moon.June 11-13 Venus within 2 finger-widths of Uranus. June 14; Full Moon. June 15; perigee Moon. June 17; Mercury at its greatest distance above the morning horizon, June 18(morning 19); Saturn and waning Moon close. June 22-23; Mercury forms a second eye with Taurus the Bull. June 22; the waning Moon near Jupiter. June 23; Last Quarter Moon. June 23; Mars close to crescent moon. June 26; the thin crescent Moon is above Venus, forming a line with Aldebaran and Mercury, with the Pleiades nearby. June 27; the thin crescent Moon forms a rectangle with Mercury, Venus and Aldebaran. June 29; New Moon. June 30; Venus forms a second eye for Taurus the Bull. June 30-31, Mars near the brightening variable star Mira.

Mercury  returns to the morning sky. But is low to the horizon until after the first week, then its is visible rising towards sinking Venus. It is at its greatest distance above the horizon on the 17th then sinks back. It forms a second eye for Taurus the Bull on the 22nd. On the 27th the thin crescent Moon form a rectangle with Mercury, Venus and Aldebaran.

Venus tarts the month below the pair of Mars and Jupiter. Venus sinks towards the horizon towards mercury and Uranus. On the 11th to 13th Venus and Uranus are within 2° of each other and are visible together in binoculars of wide field telescope eye pieces. 

On the 26th Venus and the thin crescent Moon are close, the Pleiades and Aldebaran and Mercury make this an attractive sight. On the 30th Venus forms a second eye for Taurus the Bull.

Earth is at solstice on Tuesday the 21st, when the day is shortest.

MarsMars and Jupiter start the month very close, not as spectacular as May 30th, the pair being 1.5 ° apart. After this Jupiter climbs away from Mars. On June 23, Mars is less than 1. ° from the crescent Moon.

Jupiter Jupiter climbs higher in the morning sky and is an excellent telescopic object if you can get up that early. On the 22nd Jupiter is close to the waning Moon, forming a narrow triangle with Mars.

Saturn now enters the evening sky, but remains best in the morning skies, from about the third week Saturn will be sufficiently high in the sky to clear a cluttered horizon, but not high enough for good telescopic observation. Saturn forms a shallow triangle with delta and gamma capricorni. 

 
On the 19th the waning Moon is close to Saturn (not spectacularly though).

Moon: May 2; apogee Moon and May 15; perigee Moon.