The Sky This Week for June 3 to June 5
Friday, June 3
• The Moon reaches perigee, the closest point in its orbit around Earth, at 6:55 a.m. EDT. It then lies 224,402 miles (361,140 kilometers) away from us.
Saturday, June 4
• Another comet in the growing crowd of such objects discovered by the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii makes its appearance in June’s morning sky. Comet PANSTARRS (C/2013 X1) currently glows around 7th magnitude in southern Aquarius. As a bonus today, the comet’s head lies less than 1° east of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) while the comet’s tail grazes this bright planetary. From most of the United States, you’ll need a haze-free southeastern horizon to spot the comet through a telescope shortly before dawn breaks.
• New Moon occurs at 11:00 p.m. EDT. At its new phase, the Moon crosses the sky with the Sun and so remains hidden in our star’s glare.
Sunday, June 5
• Mercury reaches greatest elongation today, when it lies 24° west of the Sun and stands 6° high in the east a half-hour before sunrise. The innermost planet shines at magnitude 0.5 and shows up easily through binoculars if you have an unobstructed horizon. When viewed through a telescope, Mercury appears 8″ across and about one-third lit.
Source
Witches Of The Craft® 