The Sky This Week - Thursday June 20 to Thursday June 27

The last Quarter Moon is Tuesday June 25. Mars is visible low in the evening twilight with Mercury above it. Jupiter is easily visible as the brightest object in the evening skies. Saturn climbs higher in the late evening skies.  Venus is closing in on the horizon and is becoming more difficult to see in the twilight.

The last Quarter Moon is Tuesday June 25. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth on the 23rd.

Morning sky on Saturday, June 22 looking east as seen from Adelaide at 6:55 ACST (30 minutes before sunrise). 

 Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (30 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).

Sky at 20:00 ACST on Saturday, June 22 looking east as seen from Adelaide. Jupiter is just after opposition, and high above the eastern horizon with Saturn below. The left upper insert inset shows the telescopic view of Jupiter at this 21:35, with Io just about to go behind Jupiter. The left lower insert that of Saturn.

Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time, click to embiggen.

Evening sky on Saturday, June 22  as seen looking north-west from Adelaide at 18:12 ACST (60 minutes after sunset). Mars is below Mercury.

Similar views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

Venus is still bright low in the morning twilight.

Mercury  climbs higher in the evening twilight, heading away from Mars, but is still best seen with a level, clear horizon.

Jupiter  Jupiter was  at opposition, when it was biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, on the 11th. However it is well worth observing for some time after opposition. It is visible al night long and is a good telescope target in the evening, being highest above the northern horizon around 11 pm. Amateurs with medium to large telescopes may want to monitor the “unravelling” of Jupiter’s red spot.

Mars is in Gemini just below birther Mercury, during the week Mercury leaves Mars behind.

Saturn  climbs higher in the evening sky but it still best for telescopic viewing in the early morning.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm AEDST, Western sky at 10 pm AEDST. For further details and more information on what’s up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/