Association of Friends of Astronomy

VENUS IN BEHIVE
The planet Venus will pass through the beehive cluster, an open cluster of stars located in the constellation Cancer. Venus can be seen in or very near the cluster on the nights of June 12 and 13.

JUNE SOLSTICE
The June solstice occurs at 14:51 UTC. The North Pole of the earth will be tilted toward the Sun, which will have reached its northernmost position in the sky and will be directly over the Tropic of Cancer at 23.44 degrees north latitude. This is the first day of summer (summer solstice) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of winter (winter solstice) in the Southern Hemisphere.

CONJUNCTION OF MOON, MARS AND VENUS
Two planets Mars and Venus will be in Cancer constellation and moon will appear very close to these 2 planets. Angular distance between each other will be less than 5 degree.

CONJUNCTION OF VENUS AND MARS
The planets Venus and Mars will pass within 3.5 degrees of each other. The event will take place on the morning of July 1 at 06:48 UTC. Both planets will be visible with the naked eye in the constellation Leo.

PERSIDS METEOR SHOWER
The Perseids is one of the best meteor showers to observe, producing up to 60 meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by comet Swift-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1862. The Perseids are famous for producing a large number of bright meteors. The shower runs annually from July 17 to August 24. It peaks this year on the night of August 12 and the morning of August 13. The crescent moon should not be too much of a problem this year. Skies should still be dark enough for a good show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Perseus, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

SATURN AT OPPOSITION
Saturn will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long. This is the best time to view and photograph Saturn and its moons.

SUPER BLUE MOON
Those looking at the sky on the night of August 31 may notice that the full moon appears slightly larger and brighter than usual. That’s because the moon will be the closest in its elliptical orbit to Earth, making it a supermoon