Contents_
_page
Calendar
_01 - 04
The telescope big enough to spot signs of alien life on other planets
_05 - 06
Calendar
_07 - 10
Zodiac constellations | Gemini
_11 - 12
Calendar
_13 - 16
Zodiac constellations | Cancer
_17 - 18
Calendar
_19 - 22
Drill here? Curiosity Mars rover inspects site
_23 - 24
Calendar
_25 - 28
Astro: Pro-Am professional and amateur astronomers join forces
_29 - 30
Image
_31 - 32
Calendar
_33 - 36
The spitzer and wise telescopes find close cold neighbour of sun
_37 - 38
Calendar
_39 - 42
How black holes shape galaxies
_43 - 44
Calendar
_45 - 46
Best viewed constellations of June
_47 - 56
Significant dates of June
_57 - 58
_01
Space station robot_
01_06_2014
RISE SET
SUN
MOON
4.42 AM 9.27 PM
8.17 AM 11.51 PM
PHASE DISK
waxing crescent 16 percent
_02
Saturn in blue and gold_
02_06_2014
RISE SET
SUN
MOON
4.41 AM
9.19 AM -
9.28 PM
PHASE DISK
waxing crescent 16 percent
_03
At the edge of NGC 2174_
03_06_2014
RISE SET
SUN
MOON
4.41 AM 9.29 PM
10.22 AM 12.19 PM
PHASE DISK
waxing crescent 24 percent
_04
Lunar farside_
04_06_2014
RISE SET
SUN
MOON
4.40 AM 9.30 PM
11.26 AM 12.44 AM
PHASE DISK
waxing crescent 32 percent
_05
THE TELESCOPE BIG ENOUGH TO SPOT SIGNS OF ALIEN LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS. Engineers are about to blast away the top of a Chilean mountain to create a site for the European Extremely Large Telescope. It will allow us, for the first time, to directly observe planets outside the solar system.
_06
By Robin Mckee Cerro Armazones is a crumbling dome of rock that dominates the parched peaks of the Chilean Coast Range north of Santiago. A couple of old concrete platforms and some rusty pipes, parts of the mountain's old weather station, are the only hints that humans have ever taken an interest in this forbidding, arid place. Even the views look alien, with the surrounding boulder-strewn desert bearing a remarkable resemblance to the landscape of Mars. Dramatic change is coming to Cerro Armazones, however – for in a few weeks, the 10,000ft mountain is going to have its top knocked off. "We are going to blast it with dynamite and then carry off the rubble," says engineer Gerd Hudepohl. "We will take about 80ft off the top of the mountain to create a plateau – and when we have done that, we will build the world's biggest telescope there." Given the peak’s remote, inhospitable location that might sound an improbable claim – except for the fact that Hudepohl has done this sort of thing before. He is one of the European Southern Observatory’s most experienced engineers and was involved in the decapitation of another nearby mountain, Cerro Paranal, on which his team then erected one of the planet’s most sophisticated observatories.
The Paranal complex has been in operation for more than a decade and includes four giant instruments with eight-metrewide mirrors – known as the Very Large Telescopes or VLTs – as well as control rooms and a labyrinth of underground tunnels linking its instruments. More than 100 astronomers, engineers and support staff work and live there. A few dozen metres below the telescopes, they have a sports complex with a squash court, an indoor football pitch, and a luxurious 110-room residence that has a central swimming pool and a restaurant serving meals and drinks around the clock. Built overlooking one of the world’s driest deserts, the place is an amazing oasis. Now the European Southern Observatory, of which Britain is a key member state, wants Hudepohl and his team to repeat this remarkable trick and take the top off Cerro Armazones, which is 20km distant. Though this time they will construct an instrument so huge it will dwarf all the telescopes on Paranal put together, and any other telescope on the planet. When completed, the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) and its 39-metre mirror will allow astronomers to peer further into space and look further back into the history of the universe than any other astronomical device in existence. Its construction will push telescope-making to its limit, however. Its primary mirror will be made of almost 800 segments – each 1.4 metres in diameter but only a few centimetres thick – which will have to be aligned with microscopic precision.
_07
M42: Inside the Orion Nebula_
05_06_2014
RISE SET
SUN
MOON
4.39 AM
12.31 PM
9.31 PM
1.06 AM
PHASE DISK
first quarter 42 percent
_08
Fresh tiger stripes on Saturns Enceladus_
06_06_2014
RISE SET
SUN
MOON
4.38 AM
1.37 PM
9.32 PM
1.27 AM
PHASE DISK
waxing gibbous 51 percent
_09
Clouds and Crosses over Haleakala_
07_06_2014
SUN
MOON
RISE
4.38 AM
2.45 PM
PHASE
waxing gibbous
SET
9.33 PM
1.47 AM
DISK
61 percent
_10
A solar eclipse from the moon_
08_06_2014
SUN
MOON
RISE
4.37 AM
3.55 PM
PHASE
waxing gibbous
SET
9.34 PM
2.09 AM
DISK
70 percent
_11
The Zodiac Constellations of June_
GEMINI_ May 21st - June 21st Gemini is fairly easy to spot in the sky, even for amateur star gazers. It is located northeast of Orion, and between Taurus and Cancer on the elliptic.
Right ascension: 7 hours Declination: 20 degrees Visible: Between latitudes 90 and -60 degrees Best viewing: During February. By April and May, the constellation can be seen soon after sunset in the west.
_12
2
1
5 8 4
6
3 7
1 : Pollux 2 : Castor
3 : Alhena 4 : Tejat Posterior
5 : Mebsuta 6 : Propus
7 : Alzir 8 : Wasat
_13
A Milky Way down_
09_06_2014 SUN
MOON
RISE
4.37 AM
5.07 PM
SET
9.35 PM
2.33 AM
PHASE
waxing gibbous
DISK
79 percent
_14
M78 and reflecting dust clouds_
10_06_2014 SUN
MOON
RISE
4.36 AM
6.20 PM
SET
9.36 PM
3.02 AM
PHASE DISK
waxing gibbous 87 percent
_15
Mars Red and Spica Blue_
11_06_2014 SUN
MOON
RISE
4.36 AM
7.32 PM
PHASE
waxing gibbous
SET
9.36 PM
3.36 AM
DISK
94 percent
_16
An unusual Globule in IC 1396_
12_06_2014
SUN
MOON
RISE
4.35 AM
8.40 PM
PHASE
waxing gibbous
SET
9.37 PM
4.20 AM
DISK
98 percent
The Zodiac Constellations of June_
_17
Cancer_ June 22st - July 22st Cancer lies between Leo, the lion, and Gemini, the twins. It is almost impossible to see Cancer as a crab with the naked eye or even binoculars. It looks more like a faint, upside-down Y. Cancer is visible in the northern hemisphere in the early spring. It can be seen in the southern hemisphere during autumn. The Cancer constellation occupies an area of 506 square degrees.
Right ascension: 9 hours Declination: 20 degrees Visible: Between latitudes 90 degrees and - 60 degrees Best viewing: During March at 9 PM
_18
4
2
3
1
1 : Altarf
2 : Asellus Australis
3 : Acubens 4 : Asellus Borealis
_19
The hydrogen clouds of M33_
13_06_2014
SUN
MOON
RISE
4.35 AM
9.39 PM
PHASE
full
SET
9.38 PM
5.13 AM
DISK
100 percent
_20
Mount sharp on the Horizon_
14_06_2014
SUN
MOON
RISE
4.35 AM
10.30 PM
PHASE
SET
9.38 PM
6.19 AM
DISK
waning gibbous 99 percent
_21
A hole in Mars_
15_06_2014
SUN
MOON
RISE
4.35 AM
11.10 PM
PHASE
waning gibbous
SET
9.39 PM
7.33 AM
DISK
95 percent
_22
Martian sunset_
16_06_2014
SUN
MOON
RISE
4.35 AM
11.44 PM
PHASE
SET
9.39 PM
8.52 AM
DISK
waning gibbous 89 percent
_23
DRILL HERE? CURIOSITY MARS ROVER INSPECTS SITE. If this target meets criteria set by engineers and scientists, it could become the mission’s third drilled rock and the first that is not mudstone.
_24
By Jet Propulsion Labotatory The team operating NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is telling the rover to use several tools this weekend to inspect a sandstone slab being evaluated as a possible drilling target. If this target meets criteria set by engineers and scientists, it could become the mission’s third drilled rock and the first that is not mudstone. The team calls it “Windjana” after a gorge in Western Australia. The planned inspection, designed to aid a decision on whether to drill at Windjana, includes observations with the camera and X-ray spectrometer at the end of the rover’s arm, use of a brush to remove dust from a patch on the rock, and readings of composition at various points on the rock with an instrument that fires laser shots from the rover’s mast. Curiosity’s hammering drill collects powdered sample material from the interior of a rock, and then the rover prepares and delivers portions of the sample to onboard laboratory instruments. The first two martian rocks drilled and analyzed this way were mudstone slabs neighboring each other in Yellowknife Bay, about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) northeast of the rover’s current location at a waypoint called “the Kimberley.” Those two rocks yielded evidence of an ancient lakebed environment with key chemical elements and a chemical energy source that provided conditions billions of years ago favorable for microbial life.
From planned drilling at Windjana or some nearby location on sandstone at the Kimberley, Curiosity’s science team hopes to analyze the cement that holds together the sand-sized grains in the rock. “We want to learn more about the wet process that turned sand deposits into sandstone here,” said Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. “What was the composition of the fluids that bound the grains together? That aqueous chemistry is part of the habitability story we’re investigating.” Understanding why some sandstones in the area are harder than others also could help explain major shapes of the landscape where Curiosity is working inside Gale Crater. Erosionresistant sandstone forms a capping layer of mesas and buttes. It could even hold hints about why Gale Crater has a large layered mountain, Mount Sharp, at its center.
_25
Daytime Moon meets morning star_
17_06_2014
RISE SET
SUN
MOON
4.35 AM
-
9.40 PM
10.13 AM
PHASE DISK
waning gibbous 80 percent
_26
A view from the zone_
18_06_2014
RISE SET
SUN
MOON
4.35 AM
12.13 AM
9.40 PM
11.33 AM
PHASE DISK
waning gibbous 70 percent
_27
Night hides the world_
19_06_2014
SUN
MOON
RISE
4.35 AM
12.28 AM
SET
9.41 PM
12.52 PM
PHASE
last quarter
DISK
59 percent
_28
Lunar time lapse panorama including Yutu Rover_
20_06_2014
SUN
MOON
RISE
4.35 AM
1.03 AM
SET
9.41 PM
2.08 PM
PHASE
waning crescent
DISK
48 percent
_29
ASTRO: PRO-AM PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS JOIN FORCES. New images of a quartet of galaxies combine the efforts of Chandra, Spitzer, and two amateur astrophotographers.
_30
By Chandra X-ray observatory What happens when the work of amateur astronomers and astrophotographers is combined with the data from some of the world’s most sophisticated space telescopes? Collaborations between professional and amateur astronomers reveal the possibilities and are intended to raise interest and awareness among the community of the wealth of data publicly available in NASA’s various mission archives. This effort is particularly appropriate for this month because April marks Global Astronomy Month, the world’s largest global celebration of astronomy. The images in this quartet of galaxies represent a sample of composites created with X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope, and optical data collected by an amateur astronomer. In these images, the X-rays from Chandra are shown in purple, infrared emission from Spitzer is red, and the optical data are in red, green, and blue. The two astrophotographers who donated their images for these four images — Detlef Hartmann and Rolf Olsen — used their personal telescopes of 17.5 inches and 10 inches in diameter, respectively.
Starting in the upper left and moving clockwise, the galaxies are M101, M81, Centaurus A, and the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). M101 is a spiral galaxy like our Milky Way but about 70 percent bigger. It is located about 21 million light-years from Earth. M81 is a spiral galaxy about 12 million lightyears away that is both relatively large in the sky and bright, making it a frequent target for both amateur and professional astronomers. Centaurus A is the fifth-brightest galaxy in the sky — making it an ideal target for amateur astronomers — and is famous for the dust lane across its middle and a giant jet blasting away from the supermassive black hole at its center. Finally, M51 is another spiral galaxy, about 30 million light-years away, that is in the process of merging with a smaller galaxy seen to its upper left. For many amateur astronomers and astrophotographers, a main goal of their efforts is to observe and share the wonders of the universe. However, the long exposures of these objects could help reveal phenomena that may otherwise be missed in the relatively short snapshots taken by major telescopes, which are tightly scheduled and often oversubscribed by professional astronomers. Therefore, projects like this Astro Pro-Am collaboration might prove useful not only for producing spectacular images, but also contributing to the knowledge of what is happening in each of these cosmic vistas.
_31
_32
_33
A particle beam jet forms HH 24_
21_06_2014
SUN
MOON
RISE
4.35 AM
1.27 AM
PHASE
waning crescent
SET
9.41 PM
3.23 PM
DISK
37 percent
_34
Reflections on planet Earth_
22_06_2014
SUN
MOON
RISE
4.35 AM
1.53 AM
SET
9.41 PM
4.35 PM
PHASE
waning crescent
DISK
27 percent
_35
Sunspot at sunset_
23_06_2014
RISE SET
SUN
MOON
4.35 AM
2.22 AM
9.41 PM
5.43 PM
PHASE DISK
waning crescent 18 percent
_36
Despina, Moon of Neptune_
24_06_2014
RISE SET
SUN
MOON
4.36 AM
2.55 AM
9.41 PM
6.47 PM
PHASE DISK
waning crescent 11 percent
_37
THE SPITZER AND WISE TELESCOPES FIND CLOSE COLD NEIGHBOUR OF SUN. The telescopes have discovered what appears to be the coldest brown dwarf known.
_38
By Jet Propulsion Labotatory NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Spitzer Space Telescope have discovered what appears to be the coldest “brown dwarf” known — a dim star-like body that surprisingly is as frosty as Earth’s North Pole.
WISE was able to spot the rare object because it surveyed the entire sky twice in infrared light, observing some areas up to three times. Cool objects like brown dwarfs can be invisible when viewed by visiblelight telescopes, but their thermal glow, even if feeble, stands out in infrared light. In addition, the closer a body, the more it appears to move in images taken months apart. Airplanes are a good example of this effect: A closer low-flying plane will appear to fly overhead more rapidly than a high-flying one. “This object appeared to move really fast in the WISE data,” said Luhman. “That told us it was something special.”
“It’s very exciting to discover a new neighbor of our solar system that is so close,” said Kevin Luhman from Pennsylvania State University, University Park. “And given its extreme temperature, it should tell us a lot about the atmospheres of planets, which often have similarly cold temperatures.”
After noticing the fast motion of WISE J085510.83-071442.5 in March 2013, Luhman spent time analyzing additional images taken with Spitzer and the Gemini South Telescope on Cerro Pachon in Chile. Spitzer’s infrared observations helped determine the frosty temperature of the brown dwarf. Combined detections from WISE and Spitzer, taken from different positions around the Sun, enabled the measurement of its distance through the parallax effect. This is the same principle that explains why your finger, when held out right in front of you, appears to jump from side to side when you alternate left- and right-eye views.
Brown dwarfs start their lives like stars, as collapsing balls of gas, but they lack the mass to burn nuclear fuel and radiate starlight. The newfound coldest brown dwarf is named WISE J085510.83-071442.5. It has a chilly temperature between –54° and 9° Fahrenheit (–48° to –13° Celsius). Previous record-holders for coldest brown dwarfs, also found by WISE and Spitzer, were about room temperature.
“It is remarkable that even after many decades of studying the sky, we still do not have a complete inventory of the Sun’s nearest neighbors,” said Michael Werner from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. “This exciting new result demonstrates the power of exploring the universe using new tools, such as the infrared eyes of WISE and Spitzer.”
Images from the space telescopes also pinpointed the object’s distance to 7.2 light-years away, earning it the title for fourth closest system to our Sun. The closest system, a trio of stars, is Alpha Centauri at about 4 light-years away.
_39
Spitzer’s Orion_
25_06_2014
SUN
MOON
RISE
4.36 AM
3.34 AM
PHASE
waning crescent
SET
9.41 PM
7.45 PM
DISK
5 percent
_40
A rainbow Pileus cloud over Zimbabwe_
26_06_2014
SUN
MOON
RISE
4.37 AM
4.19 AM
PHASE
waning crescent
SET
9.41 PM
8.35 PM
DISK
2 percent
_41
A New Year’s crescent_
27_06_2014
RISE SET
SUN
MOON
4.37 AM
5.11 AM
9.41 PM
9.17 PM
PHASE DISK
new
0 percent
_42
Mammatus Clouds over Nebraska_
28_06_2014
RISE SET
SUN
MOON
4.38 AM
6.07 AM
9.41 PM
9.53 PM
PHASE DISK
waxing crescent 0 percent
_43
HOW BLACK HOLES SHAPE GALAXIES. A group of astronomers has found a relatively simple relationship between the color of a galaxy and the size of its bulge — the more massive the bulge, the redder the galaxy.
_44
By Royal Astronomical Society The universe we see is made up of billions of galaxies, each containing anywhere from hundreds of thousands to hundreds of billions of stars. Large numbers of galaxies are elliptical in shape, red, and mostly made up of old stars. Another, more familiar type is the spiral where arms wind out in a blue thin disk from a central red bulge. On average, stars in spiral galaxies tend to be much younger than those in ellipticals. Now a group of astronomers led by Asa Bluck of the University of Victoria in Canada has found a relatively simple relationship between the color of a galaxy and the size of its bulge — the more massive the bulge, the redder the galaxy. Asa and his team used data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to group together over half a million galaxies of all different colors, shapes, and masses. They then used patternrecognition software to measure the shape of each one and see how the proportion of red stars in a galaxy varies with its other properties.
They found that the mass in the central bulge — regardless of how big the disk surrounding it may be — is the key to knowing the color of the whole galaxy. Above a given bulge mass, galaxies are red and have no new young stars. Almost all galaxies have supermassive black holes at their centers. The mass of the bulge is closely related to the mass of the black hole — the more massive the black hole, the more energy is released into the surrounding galaxy in the form of powerful jets and X-ray emission. This can blow away and heat up gas, stopping new stars from forming. “A relatively simple result, that large galaxy bulges mean red galaxies, has profound consequences,” said Asa. “Big bulges mean big black holes, and these can put an end to star formation.”
_45
The tadpoles of IC 410_
29_06_2014
RISE SET
SUN
MOON
4.38 AM
7.08 AM
9.41 PM
10.23 PM
PHASE DISK
waxing crescent 3 percent
_46
Sun and Prominence_
30_06_2014
RISE SET
SUN
MOON
4.39 AM
8.10 AM
9.40 PM
10.49 PM
PHASE DISK
waxing crescent 6 percent
_47
Boötes_ Boötes is visible in the northern hemisphere from spring through the summer. It represents a hunter. Many believe Boötes to be the most ancient constellation in the sky. Its first recorded appearance was in Homer’s book, The Odyssey, almost three thousand years ago. Boötes is the home of Arcturis, the 4th brightest star in the night sky.
Right ascension: 14.73 hours Declination: 30 degrees Best viewing: During June at 9 PM
_48
6
8 7
10
2 9
3
4
1
1 : Arcturis 2 : Nekkar
3 : Seginus 4 : Izar
5 : Mufrid 6 : Asellus Primus
5
7 : Asellus Secondus 8 : Asellus Tertius
9 : Alkalurops 10 : Merga
_49
Circinus_ Circinus is visible from the northern latitudes south of 30 degrees north and all of the southern latitudes from March through May. It was named for its shape, which resembles a drawing compass. This constellation contains no Messier objects and is composed mainly of faint stars.
Right ascension: 15.08 hours Declination: -59.02 degress Best viewing: During June at 9 PM
_50
This constellation is composed mainly of faint stars
_51
Libra_ Libra is Latin for weighing scales, making it the only constellation of the Zodiac representing an inanimate object. At 538 square degrees, Libra ranks 29th overall in terms of size. It doesn’t have any first magnitude stars, making it relatively faint but not impossible to view with the naked eye. Libra is in the Southern Hemisphere, located between Scorpius to the east and Virgo to the west.
Right ascension: 15.21 hours Declination: -15.59 degrees Best viewing: During June at 9 PM
_52
1
3
2
1 : Lanx Australis 2 : Brachium
3 : Zuben-el-Akrab
_53
Lupus_ Lupus, the Wolf, is located between Centaurus and Hydra. It is best seen in the northern hemisphere in June. The shape of this constellation is not very obvious. It was seen as an unidentified animal to the Greeks and Romans, and has only recently been referred to as a wolf. Lupus contains no Messier objects and, with the exception of a couple of faint clusters, contains no notable items of interest.
Right ascension: 15.40 hours Declination: -42.96 degress Best viewing: During June at 9 PM
_54
This constellation is composed mainly of faint stars
_55
Ursa Minor_ Ursa Minor, the Little Bear, is visible in the northern hemisphere all year long. This constellation is famous for a group of stars known as the Little Dipper and for Polaris, the North Star, which is located at the tip of the dipper’s handle. Polaris is called the North Star because it is the closest star to the North Celestial Pole. This means that as the Earth rotates, Polaris appears to remain stationary in the sky while all of the other stars rotate around it. Polaris can be located by finding the two stars in the edge of the cup in the Big Dipper and following an imaginary line outwards, away from the cup.
Right ascension: 14.78 hours Declination: 74.36 degrees Best viewing: During June at 9 PM
_56
1
4
2
3
1 : Polaris 2 : Kocab
3 : Pherkad 4 : Yildun
5
5 : Pherkad Minor
_57
ASTRONOMY CALENDAR
_JUNE
01_06_2014
On this day in 1966 Surveyor 1 becomes the first US spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon.
06_06_2014
On this day in 1971 Soyuz 11 carries Russian cosmonauts to the first manned orbital space station.
07_06_2014
Planetary Conjunction.
08_06_2014
On this day in 1975 the USSR Venera 9 sends the first TV pictures back from the surface of Venus.
10_06_2014
Planetary Conjunction.
13_06_2014
Full Moon.
16_06_2014
On this day in 1963 Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman launched into space.
_58
18_06_2014
On this day in 1983 Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space, onboard the space shuttle Challenger.
21_06_2014
Today is the June Solstice. The longest day of the year for those in the northern hemisphere, and the shortest for those in the southern hemisphere. On this day in 2004 the first private manned mission into space took place onboard SpaceShipOne.
27_06_2014
The June Bootids Meteor shower peaks today. New Moon.
_59
Astronomy_