Dark Sky News
June 2024
This month’s meeting (Thurs. May 30): T Coronae Borealis Nova!
Click here for the SAS Pictures of the Month (June 2024)!
Catch the once-in-a-lifetime nova outburst of T Coronae Borealis! Learn more about this spectacular event here.
The great red giant Arcturus marks the constellation Bootes. For deep sky enthusiasts, take a look at Arp 117!
Virgo contains 11 Messier objects as well as a large number of deep sky objects. Here are some highlights:
NGC4435/NGC4438 – the Eyes Galaxies are a pair of interacting galaxies (the filming location for the black hole starring in the movie Interstellar!)
NGC4216 forms a beautiful triplet of galaxies – see if you can still see the supernova that exploded there just two months ago!
M87 – second brightest galaxy of the Virgo Cluster
3C 273 – nearest and most luminous quasar in the sky!
NGC 4567 and NGC 4568 (the Siamese Twins) form a pair of colliding spiral galaxies in the Virgo Cluster.
Set your alarm for 4:30 A.M. on June 1. A 31% waning crescent Moon will lie between Saturn and Mars. Both planets will have the same 1-magnitude brightness.
Perfect time to observe some deep sky galaxy objects… if you’re satisfied with less than 3 and half hours of dark sky!
“Strawberry” might really be appropriate for the Moon this time, as this year, we will see an unusually amber, low lunar placement of the Full Moon. Due to the tilted orbit of the Moon, it will be in its lowest position for the next 18 years.