Events at Sacramento State

Public observing nights are held at least once a semester at Sacramento State. We meet in the early evening for a general interest talk on a topic in astronomy, followed by observing at the campus observatory on the roof of Amador Hall.

Currently the Fall 2007 observing night has not yet been scheduled. Please check back on this web page for more information. You can also call the Astronomy Information Line at 278-5828 for updates.

Events at Other Locations

The Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society hosts a number of public events. You can find more information at their website.

Celestial Happenings

June 1

Full Moon.

June 2

Mercury at greatest elongation from the Sun. Visible in the early evening.

June 5

Jupiter at opposition, meaning it is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun, and that it rises at midnight.

June 8

Moon at last quarter.

June 9

Venus at greatest elongation from the Sun. Visible in the early evening.

June 15

New Moon.

June 19

Pluto at opposition.

June 21

Summer solstice -- summer officially begins today!

June 22

Moon at first quarter.

June 30

Full Moon. (this is the second full moon this month!)

The Planets

Mercury

Mercury is visible in the evening early in the month, but soon moves too close to the Sun to be visible.

Venus

Venus is visible in the western sky, in the constellation Cancer. On June 13 it passes close to the Beehive Cluster in Cancer.

Mars

Mars rises early in the morning, and is not anywhere near its brightest.

Jupiter

Jupiter is visible nearly all night long, and is one of the brightest objects in the sky.

Saturn

Saturn is between Cancer and Leo, visible in the early morning sky.

Uranus

Uranus will be in the constellation Aquarius this month, At about magnitude 6 it should be visible to the naked eye, but binoculars will definitely help.

Neptune

Neptune will be in the constellation Capricornus this month, at magnitude 8, so binoculars are in order here.

Pluto

Pluto is in Sagittarius this month, in the same general area of the sky as Jupiter, but much, much fainter. It will be a challange to see unless you have a medium to large telescope -- it's about magnitude 14.