Look at the eastern sky before dawn on Friday (June 24) and Saturday (June 25) and the moon will appear to have jumped over Uranus.
On Friday, “the old crescent will shine with a generous palm width in the upper left corner (or 6.5 degrees of the celestial southwest) of the small star with a magnitude of 5.8 Uraniumwrites Chris Vaughn, an amateur astronomer with SkySafari Software who runs Space.com’s Night sky calendar.
“On the next morning, The moon will jump east to sit at 5 degrees in the lower left corner of Uranus, “Vaughn wrote. The duo will be close enough to share the view with binoculars.
Connected: The brightest planets in the night sky in June: How to see them (and when)
Observers in the Southern Hemisphere – particularly in western and northern Australia and eastern Indonesia – will see the moon occult Uranus before dawn on Saturday.
The moon is currently touring the morning planets, its next port is Venus on June 26 then mercury on June 27.
The planetary “meeting and greeting” of the Moon is not the only event to observe the sky that you should watch out for in the coming weeks. Throughout June, observers of the stars undergo a rare “parade of planets”, where all five planets with the naked eye will be visible in the foreshadowing sky as they line up in their orbital order from the sun. From left to right in the southeastern sky you will be able to notice Mercury, Venus, March, Jupiter and Saturn all in a row.
We hope you take a good picture of the moon as it makes its way past the morning planets? Our guide for how to photograph the moon there are some useful tips. If you are looking for a camera, here is our review of the best astrophotography cameras and the best astrophotography lenses. As always, our guides for the best telescopes and the best binoculars can help you prepare for the next great sky watching event.
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