In the last week of June 2021, observe the Moon being swept by the gas giants Saturn and Jupiter.
The Moon, Jupiter, Saturn from late at night until dawn
In the last week of June 2021, let the Bump Moon take you on a trip to find the two bright planets of Jupiter and Saturn. On the evening of June 25, 2021, the Moon will rise from the Eastern Night Sky before you go to bed, followed by Saturn and Jupiter.
On the night of June 25 and 26, 2021, Saturn will appear in the sky about an hour after the moonrise. In about an hour, Jupiter will appear. Even with the naked eye, these huge and bright gas planets can be easily observed.
If you can't stay up late, find the moon in the pre-dawn sky with Saturn and Jupiter. You can look for the moon closest to Saturn on the morning of June 27, and Jupiter a day later.
For fun, in the star chart above, we also show neptune, the farthest known planet in the solar system, and the dwarf planet Uranus. However, neither Neptune nor Pluto is invisible to the naked eye.
As the Moon moves eastward in orbit around the Earth, its rise is delayed by an average of 50 minutes each night. If you're not a night owl, you'll need to catch the moon, Saturn, and Jupiter shining in the sky early in the morning.
U.S. and Canadian moonrise and moonrise calculators
World Moonrise and Moonset Calculator
Astronomers at the International Astronomical Union have defined Pluto as a dwarf planet. In this artistic rendering, planets and dwarf planets show true proportions of size, but fail to show their true relative distances.
Jupiter, the king of planets
Jupiter, the king of the planets, is so dazzling in the night sky that it's hard to miss it. Jupiter ranks fourth among the brightest stars in the sky, behind the Sun, Moon and Venus. However, Venus' position in the night sky is relatively fixed, so it is impossible to think of Venus as Jupiter, and vice versa. In short, Jupiter is the brightest presence in the early morning sky!
Schedule of the rise of Saturn and Jupiter in the United States and Canada
Timeline of the rise of the world's Saturn and Jupiter
Saturn with a "halo"
Saturn with planetary rings is behind Jupiter, and it is 16 times brighter than Jupiter. Still, Saturn is as bright as a first-class star. For the rest of the year, when we look for Saturn, we first have to find bright Jupiter, and Saturn is near him.
The so-called "nearby" refers to the similarity of the relative positions of two planets on the dome of the sky. They are not close in cosmic space. When we start measuring from Earth or the Sun, Saturn is about twice as far away as Jupiter. Typically, astronomers use astronomical units (AU) to give distances to objects within the solar system. An astronomical unit refers to the distance between the Earth and the Sun, which is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers). Current measurements show that Jupiter and Saturn are about 5 AU and 10 AU from the Sun, respectively.
The Distance of planets from Earth and the Sun can currently be found through the Riverns-Above website.
The Moon, Jupiter and Saturn in telescopes
Are you new to telescope use? If so, then the Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn would be very good targets. With a suitable telescope parameter, these solar system objects will feast your eyes.
Exploring the lunar terrain along the moon's morning and evening lines (the dividing line between day and night on the moon) is very exciting. Here you can have the best 3D visuals of lunar mountains, craters and lowlands. If you don't have a lens filter, it's better to observe the Moon at dusk and during the day, when the Moon's glare is less intense.
The moons of Jupiter
Jupiter's four main moons can be easily observed with any kind of telescope - Io (Io), Europa (Europa), Ganymedes (Ganymede), and Caristo (Ganymede). Captain James Cook (1728-1779) used these satellites to determine local longitude in complex and varied coastal regions as he sailed the world. Of course, this method of measuring longitude is most of the time only useful on land, and not on the surface of the sea in complex situations. However, this method also provides a guarantee for the proofreading of the precision of the chronograph.
Jupiter and its moons were observed through telescopes in 2009. Click here to see the locations of Jupiter's four main moons.
Astronomers knew from the beginning that Jupiter was a massive planet because its moons orbited it very fast. In fact, if astronomers could figure out the orbital period of one of the moons and its distance from Jupiter, we could calculate Jupiter's mass.
How do astronomers calculate jupiter's mass?
Saturn's rings
It is also important to note that although the planets of the Solar System (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) all have rings, they are not comparable to Saturn's magnificent rings. Saturn's rings are unique.
These pictures show us what Saturn with halos in 4- and 8-inch apertures looks like.
If you're not someone who's used to staying up late or waking up early, in another month or two you'll see them in the night sky before you go to bed. When these planets reach the opposite position of the sun during the day, we will be able to see them all night. Saturn will reach the opposite position of the Sun on August 2, while Jupiter will reach its opposite position on August 20.
By then, if you get up early, you will find two bright planets next to the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn.
BY：BruceMcClure
FY：Astronomicalvolunteer team
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