Items Featured In TGP NOMINAL Xtra - June Skies 2021
Ross Hockham's June 2021 Sky Guide:
On the 1st, The planet Jupiter will be close to a over half full Moon in the early hours,
and will be the focus this month, as there are a few shadow transits of it's Moon's coming up.
On the 1st, The planet Jupiter will be close to a over half full Moon in the early hours,
and will be the focus this month, as there are a few shadow transits of it's Moon's coming up.
Get your scopes on the 2nd and point them at Jupiter to see Europa's shadow passing across it,
being in its centre at 2:50am and just leaving it before twilight around 4am.
Early morning on the 5th, there are two shadow transits today.
As Jupiter rises around 1:30am IO and Ganeymede's shadows will be on the planet.
IO’s shadow will be moving quicker and will move away from Ganeymede's,
moving off the planet at around 3:17am.
A bit of asteroid hunting for those keen astronomers, on the 6th.
Asteroid 3 Juno reaches opposition in the Constellation Ophiuchus (The Serpent Bearer)
You will need a moderately sized scope to pick out the white dot, in relation to the back ground of stars.
It is slap bang in the middle of the constellation, so a bit of star hopping may be needed.
Back to Jupiter in the early hours of the 7th,
and between 2:36am and 2:41am the Moon Europa will be eclipsed partially by the shadow of IO.
So a moon's shadow will partially go across another moon, making it get slightly dimmer.
On the 10th, Pop back to Jupiter.
As it rises at 11:5am, you’ll see the Moon Callisto moving across the planet.
Leaving at 3.30am.
On the 11th, Just after sunset, see if you can spot the really thin 1% lit crescent Moon,
that’ll be below the planet venus shining bright.
On the Afternoon of the 12th, you’ll see the Moon has moved even closer to the Goddess Of Beauty 'Venus' and may be slightly easier to spot for you.
It's Mar's turn to be visited by the Moon on the night of the 13th.
The God of war is still in the sky, shining blood red,
but will soon be gone as we move away in orbit.
The 21st marks the Northern Hemisphere's Summer Solstice.
Making it the longest day of the year.
Traditionally, the summer solstice period fell between the planting and harvesting of crops,
leaving people who worked the land time to relax.
This is why June became the traditional month for weddings.
On the 22nd, the Bootids Meteor shower starts building up.
This was missed out in the podcast, but I felt it deserved a mention.
It radiates from the Constellation Bootes and peaks on the 27th,
although it should be should be visible until the 2nd of July.
The source of the Bootids is Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke, which orbits the Sun once every 6.37 years,
and the Earth travels through the debris of it's tail at this time every year.
Jean Louis Pons (Marseille) originally discovered the comet on June 12, 1819.
It was later rediscovered by Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke (Bonn) on March 9, 1858.
There is another double shadow transit on Jupiter on the 26th, if you missed the earlier ones.
Callisto's shadows will start from 4:40am with IO's joining it just after 6am,
so the rising Sun may get in the way but you should be able to spot them.
Venus and Mars close in on each other on the 30th.
Look towards the West-Northwest around 11pm and spot the two planets.
See if you can tell which is which, from their colours.
Highlight Of the Month - Partial Solar Eclipse 10/06/2021:
There is a partial eclipse happening on 10th, in the UK.
We will see the Moon skim over the top part of the Sun, as it moves in front of it.
At around 10am it will slowly cross
the top of the Sun creeping across until 12:35pm where it leaves it.
Have a picnic or pop out for a walk and see if you notice the light dimming slightly around you at its peak,
at 11:19am, which is a weird sensation.
DON’T LOOK AT THE SUN!
So how do you view it safely? Well, there a few techniques and ways you can enjoy it at home.
Solar Glasses are a great way to go out and see it, you can pick these up from most telescope shops,
or online.
This way you can just pop out look up and see it easily just using your eyes.
Please don’t use smoked glass or welders masks as these don’t block out some of the harmful rays,
and can damage your eyes.
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There are also some easy DIY ways to see the eclipse and fun projects
You can Download a FREE Fact Sheet Here!
One of the most popular ways of viewing an eclipse is making a pin hole projector.
Which is pretty much a box with a pin hole that projects the sun through it onto the card.
It’s a cool thing to have a go at making with the kids etc.
Other easy ways are use two pieces of card.
pop a hole in one and project it trough on to the other.
Use a colander or kitchen strainer,the holes in it are perfect to make lots of little eclipses,
onto white card or paper.
You can even use your hands overlapping your fingers at right angles,
to make holes big enough to let the sun through onto paper.
You can Download a FREE Fact Sheet Here!
One of the most popular ways of viewing an eclipse is making a pin hole projector.
Which is pretty much a box with a pin hole that projects the sun through it onto the card.
It’s a cool thing to have a go at making with the kids etc.
Other easy ways are use two pieces of card.
pop a hole in one and project it trough on to the other.
Use a colander or kitchen strainer,the holes in it are perfect to make lots of little eclipses,
onto white card or paper.
You can even use your hands overlapping your fingers at right angles,
to make holes big enough to let the sun through onto paper.
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Now these techniques are fun and easy but the view will be small and slightly dim, to really get a good look you can use binoculars JUST DON’T LOOK THROUGH THEM!
Pop them on a tripod, make a sun shield from a piece or card by cutting a hole or two in it,
popping it over one or both of the ends of the binoculars.
Then hold another piece of card/paper about a foot from the viewing part,
and it should project it onto it safely.
But make sure to give your binoculars a cooling break now and then,
as the eyepiece may become overheated and the lens elements may separate,
if you leave it pointed at the Sun for too long.
You can do this with a refracting telescope as well, as it uses a lens not mirror.
Use the shadow on the ground to get it lined up with the Sun,
NOT THE FINDER AS IT WILL BLIND YOU!
Now, you can get filters for you binoculars and telescopes,
and this is the safest way to enjoy the partial eclipse aswell as viewing sunspots etc.
Most pop on the end of our scope and will allow you to see it in yellow, some in white,
as this helps the black sun spots stand out and are easier to view.
If you have a refractor you can get a Herschel Wedge
which replaces the star diagonal part which you put your eyepieces into.
This gives you a clearer and better view but costs a bit more.
IF IN DOUBT JUST ASK THE TELESCOPE SUPPLIER,
to ensure you get the right gear that’s safe for you.
So hopefully that gives you a rough run down of safe ways to watch this months Partial Eclipse.
For this years event, Ross will have a Hydrogen Alpha Scope which allows you to see the prominences etc,
so it will be cool to see how it looks with the Moon crossing it too.
Ross Hockham's Naked Eye Object Of The Month:
It's Noctilucent Cloud Season, which are a High Altitude Phenomenon,
at around 82km up in the Mesosphere.
These clouds are ice sheets of tiny ice crystals made from meteor dust that hang in the atmosphere.
They have been spotted already this year and are best seen just before the Sun rises or after it sets,
as it lights up these from beneath giving you a whispy blue, white cloud that are not that common.
So if you are out about 45mins to an hour after or before sunset or sunrise, keep an eye out!
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Ross Hockham's Binocular Object Of The Month:
Grab your binoculars and have a look at the Constellation Ursa Minor (The Little Bear)
You should see a ring of stars with Polaris (The North Star) being the brightest.
The ring of stars are known as the Engagement or Diamond Ring Asterism.
It looks like a ring with Polaris being the diamond shining bright.
Great for those wanting to propose, although it may cost you to put that ring on their finger.
ROSS HOCKHAM'S Telescope Object Of The Month:
Those with telescopes, see if you can spot the great Hercules Globular Cluster (M13),
on the square of the Constellation Hurcules.
Between the top two stars is a magnificent glob of thousands of stars.
Some of the oldest in our galaxy.
on the square of the Constellation Hurcules.
Between the top two stars is a magnificent glob of thousands of stars.
Some of the oldest in our galaxy.
VALENTINA TERESHKOVA - THE FIRST WOMAN IN SPACE 16/06/1963:
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June is Mark's Birthday, and he shares it with the Anniversary of Valentina Tereshkova's flight into orbit,
becoming the First Woman In Space.
Mark and Ross spoke About the awesome, Live In The Park Festival Which is part of the Park Life Weekend, that Aylesbury Town Council, organise each August Bank Holiday. Click on the image above to find out more information about this years event |
Check Out The Garbage POD's Annual, Eurovision Podcast! This year we chat with a special guest, who featured in the 2021 Contest Click on the image above to listen and find out more about this episode |
Various Videos:
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