Wood, fire and earth are doing things together, and a super astronomical phenomenon appears in the East

June 19, 2024: Moon approaches Antares

After sunset, the moon will approach Antares, and before sunrise, Jupiter will appear in the eastern sky along with Mars and Saturn.

Chart Description-Mingyue (AI Generated)

Jeffrey Lee Hunter

Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn before sunrise

Chart Caption - June 19, 2024: An hour before sunrise, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn are aligned in the eastern sky along the ecliptic.

Jupiter is easier to see each morning. Along with Mars and Saturn, Jupiter also marks the plane of the solar system in which the planets orbit the sun. The distant stars provide a backdrop for observing their motion.

Start an hour before sunrise. Saturn, much fainter than Jupiter but brighter than most of the stars this morning, is about one-third of the way along a line from the southeast horizon to overhead.

Mars is farther east, 20 degrees above the eastern horizon, and is widening its gap with Saturn and approaching Jupiter after conjuncting it in April.

Imagine a diagonal line from Saturn to Mars. It's as if you were extending your arms in a conic motion. Once you reach Mars, continue along the imaginary diagonal line toward the east-northeast horizon to bright Jupiter, less than 4 readings above the horizon. Jupiter is the third brightest regular in the night sky and can be seen near the horizon at this time.

Jupiter, a bright star in the twilight

The imaginary arc connecting the three planets is the approximate location of the plane of the solar system, the so-called "ecliptic".

Evening sky

Mercury and Venus at twilight

Mercury and Venus are east of the Sun, and as time goes on, they will get farther from the Sun each day, but will both be hidden in the bright evening twilight. Venus will set 19 minutes after the Sun sets, and Mercury 15 minutes later.

The best time to observe Mercury is

This moon will set two hours before dawn tomorrow.

Related knowledge

After sunset on June 19, 2024, the bright gibbous moon will appear near Antares, and binoculars will be able to clearly capture the moon and Antares in the same frame.

That night, the bright moon will be close to Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius, also known as the "rival of Mars". One hour after sunset, 96% of the moon's surface is illuminated and it has risen about 20° in the south-southeast direction. At this time, using binoculars to observe, you will find that the two stars Zubeneschamali and Zubenelgenubi in Libra are about 20° from the upper right corner of the moon, and Dscubba in the head of Scorpius is about 4.3° from the upper right corner of the moon.

Later the next day, when the moon sets in America, observers in East Asia will have the opportunity to see the astronomical spectacle of the moon covering Antares. The moon will set two hours before dawn that day.

Related knowledge

Antares is the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius. It is named α Scorpii according to the Bayer nomenclature and Alpha Scorpii in Latin. Antares is often called the "heart of the scorpion" and is flanked by σ Scorpii and τ Scorpii near the center of the constellation. Antares appears distinctly red when observed with the naked eye and is a slow irregular variable star with a brightness ranging from magnitude +0.6 to +1.6. On average it is the fifteenth brightest star in the night sky.

Antares is the brightest and most evolved star in the Scorpius-Centaurus cluster, the nearest OB-type star cluster to the Sun. It is located about 170 parsecs (550 light-years) from Earth in the constellation of Scorpius Alta. Its light illuminates the Rho Ophiuchi nebula complex in the foreground.

Antares is a massive red supergiant of spectral type M1.5Iab-Ib, one of the largest stars visible to the naked eye. Its exact size is still difficult to determine, but if it were placed at the center of the solar system, its diameter would extend between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It is calculated that the mass of Antares is about 12 to 16 times that of the sun.

When observed with the naked eye, Antares appears as a single star, but it is actually a binary system consisting of bright Alpha Scorpii A (Antares) and fainter Alpha Scorpii B. The companion is a hot main-sequence star of magnitude 5.5, with an estimated separation of about 79.1 Tm (529 AU) from the primary.

Antares' traditional name Antares derives from the Ancient Greek Ἀντάρης, meaning "rival of Ares", due to its red hue being similar to the appearance of Mars, which was also known as Ares.

BY: Jeffrey L. Hunt

FY：Astronomical volunteer team

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