Welcome to the Southeastern Massachusetts Astronomy Almanac for the week beginning Friday June 6, 2008. As we approach the “astronomical” beginning of Summer on June 20, also known as the June Solstice, the amount of sunlight is reaching its maximum of 15 hours and 14 minutes and the time of sunrise and sunset changes only slightly from day to day. However, due to a combination of the Earth’s rotation and revolution, the day of the Earliest Sunrise happens before the day with the longest sunlight. Starting on Saturday, the 7, sunrise will be at 5:07 am and stay at that time for the next two weeks before it starts getting later. The time of sunset still changes slightly each day (check back at the end of June…) – the Sun sets at 8:19 pm by the end of this week. Also, as we approach the solstice, the sundial Noon Sun remains at a constant angle above the southern horizon - 71.5 degrees - at 12:43 pm clock time. The length of your noon shadow, its shortest for the year, is about a third of your height.

On the evening of Friday, June 6, a thin Waxing Crescent Moon aligns to the left of the stars Pollux and Castor of Gemini the twins. Up and to the left is MARS. And again up to the left is SATURN, next to the star Regulus (slightly dimmer than Saturn) in Leo. A widening crescent Moon passes below MARS on Saturday, the 7, and then SATURN & Regulus on Sunday, the 8. By 11 pm, JUPITER rises from the SE as Mars drops low in the West. Going to the left from Saturn to Jupiter you pass the bright stars Spica, in Virgo, and then Antares, in Scorpius. With the First Quarter Moon visible in the afternoon and evening sky of Tuesday, the 10, the Waxing Gibbous Moon passes Spica on Thursday, the 12. High in the southern sky, above Spica is the bright star Arcturus, in Boötes, the herdsman (I think it looks more like a kite or an ice cream cone). Farther up to the right (into the NW sky) is the handle of Big Dipper. MERCURY moves between the Earth and the Sun on June 7 and VENUS moves on the other side of the Sun from Earth on June 9. Due to its faster motion, Mercury will appear in our MORNING sky by the end of the month. Venus will take the rest of the summer to get far enough away from the Sun to be seen in the EVENING sky.

The International Space Station and Space Shuttle Discovery combination appears as a bright slow moving point of light on the following days: Friday, the 6: at 8:47 pm from Left to Right, Medium in the North; at 10:23 pm from Right to Left, very low in the West, under Saturn & Mars moving from Right to Left, Low in the SW sky on: Saturday, the 7 at 9:09 pm; Sunday, the 8, at 8:32 pm and Tuesday, the 10, at 8:41 pm. To identify other artificial objects orbiting the Earth that can be seen in evening and morning skies, register your location at and use the www.heavens-above.com.

Special thanks to Michael Purdy, Hanover and Plymouth Public Schools and to the South Shore Astronomical Society of Norwell, MA (www.ssastros.org) which hosts a telescope viewing starting around sunset at Centennial Park on Pine Street in Norwell on Saturday, June 7 (weather permitting). Have a great week and keep watching the sky!