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June 9: Bright planets’ conjunction
The Moon passes 6° due north of Saturn at 8 A.M. EDT; an hour before dawn, the pair is high in the eastern sky, perfect for early risers to enjoy.
Saturn is the brightest point of light in this region of the sky, sitting close to the southern border of Pisces. Glowing at magnitude 0.8, it should be easily visible even with the crescent Moon nearby. Mars lies far to the pair’s lower left, glowing at magnitude 1.3. It’s already nearly 10° high an hour before dawn, so you should be able to spot it as well.
Turn a telescope on Saturn and you’ll be greeted by a view of its lovely rings, stretching some 38” from end to end. They are tilted some 8.5° to our line of sight, showing off their southern face. You may also spot Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, some 40” southwest of the planet and glowing around magnitude 8.5. Fainter 10th-magnitude Tethys, Rhea, and Dione all lie east of the ringed world, but may be more difficult to spot, particularly as the sky brightens. If you want to catch them, try looking an hour or two earlier, while the sky is still well and truly dark.
Zooming back out, Cetus the Whale lies to the lower right of the Moon and Saturn. You may be able to make out a few of the large constellation’s brighter stars, particularly 2nd-magnitude Beta Ceti, also called Diphda or Deneb Kaitos. Although its designation as Beta indicates it comes in second, Diphda actually outshines Cetus’ alpha star, magnitude 2.5 Menkar. Additionally, Menkar lies in far northeastern Cetus, where it doesn’t rise until very shortly before the Sun, rendering it invisible in the brightening sky.
Sunrise: 5:31 A.M.
Sunset: 8:28 P.M.
Moonrise: 2:01 A.M.
Moonset: 3:32 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (22%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location.
