by Duncan Lunan

It’s New on the 15^th, near Mercury and Jupiter on the 16^th, very near Venus in early evening of the 17^th, passing Regulus in Leo on the 19^th, and is at First Quarter  (i.e. half full)  on the night of the Summer Solstice, June 21^st.  After passing Spica in Virgo on the 23^rd and Antares in Scorpius on the 27^th, the Moon is Full on the morning of the 30^th as above.

Artemis 2, the first crewed mission to the Moon since 1972, was launched on April 1^st, when I had just been admitted to hospital with a blood clot after waiting nearly 54 years for the mission. The spacecraft entered a ‘free-return’ trajectory, taking 10 days to go round the Moon and return to Earth – a complete success. 

The third mission next year will rehearse rendezvous techniques in Earth orbit, with the landing no sooner than 2028.  But that mission has already been postponed from spring next year to autumn;  the new configuration of the SpaceX booster and orbiter was flight-tested on May 22^nd and although the main mission succeeded, both have now been grounded pending investigation of problems in flight;  while the alternative Blue Origin vehicle has just been grounded following a catastrophic explosion of a less powerful booster during preflight testing.  China is not scheduled to attempt a crewed Moon landing before 2030, but with the gap narrowing, their planners must be looking at earlier options. 

The planet Mercury remains low in the evening sky, though setting about 11 p.m., with Venus and Jupiter above it to the left in early June, and at greatest elongation from the Sun on the 15^th, with the crescent Moon above, the following night, before it disappears mid-June.

Venus is brilliant in the evening sky, passing Jupiter within 1.5 degrees on June 9^th, passed by the crescent Moon on the 17^th, and near Praesepe in Cancer on the 19^th.  In the western USA Venus will be occulted by the Moon on the 17^th.    

Mars reappears in late June in Taurus, still faint in the morning sky after a long absence behind the Sun, to the right of the waning Moon on the 13^th, and passing below the Pleiades on the 29^th.  

Jupiter is still brilliant in Gemini, near Venus as above, to lower left of Castor and Pollux, setting around 11 p.m., and passed by the Moon on the 16^th.  

Saturn in Pisces returns to the morning sky, to lower right of the crescent Moon on June 10^th, and rising around 2 a.m. by the end of the month.    

Uranus, in Taurus, is invisible beyond the Sun for most of June, but visible in the same binocular field as Mars in the last week of June.

Neptune, in Pisces, is to the right of Saturn, rising about 1.30 a.m., passed by the Moon on the 9^th.

There are no meteor showers expected in darkness during June.

Duncan Lunan’s recent books are available from booksellers and through Amazon;  details are on Duncan’s website, www.duncanlunan.com.