Happy Summer

Today, June 21, is the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere - when the earth's axial tilt is most inclined toward the sun - and marks the official start of summer (in some cultures it marks the middle).  Although the most hours of sunlight are experienced this day, the latest sunset is actually around the end of the month.  


The night hours are not as dark as they are in the winter.  This is because the sun doesn't set as far below the horizon while the northern hemisphere is tilted towards it (see the image below).  Instead of nice black skies at night, they are pretty much grey in my area.

Despite this, there are still plenty of great things about summer observing; warm weather, summer constellations such as Sagittarius - at the heart of the Milky Way, where many beautiful nebulae and clusters can be seen; the Sagittarius star cloud, the Lagoon Nebula, Trifid Nebula, Omega Nebula, and the M22 cluster.  There are noteworthy meteor showers (a post about which is soon to follow), Jupiter rises earlier each night, around 1:30 AM by the end of the week, and along with him, Uranus. 


There will also be a partial lunar eclipse on June 26th for the western US and pacific region out to Australia, which should start around 4:20 AM.


Happy summer!




























image source