The Old Farmer's Almanac contains an entire year's worth of monthly skywatch information; as a courtesy to our web visitors, this information for the current and upcoming months is included below.
The best time to see Mercury is on the 6th, at about 35 minutes after sunset, when the charbroiled planet floats next to the crescent Moon, 12 degrees high in the west. Although Mercury remains visible until the 26th, it is only one-tenth as bright by then, at magnitude 2.0, and hidden by the twilight. Mars, halfway up the western sky at nightfall, crosses into Cancer and floats in front of the famous Beehive star cluster from the 22nd to the 24th. This fine sight is best viewed through binoculars. Saturn is highest at nightfall and appears above the Moon on the 12th. Jupiter, at magnitude -2.5, rises by midnight at month's end. Venus is too close to the Sun to be seen.
Mars and Saturn are now evening-only objects. The red planet crosses into Leo in midmonth, fades to below magnitude 1.5, and becomes a medium-bright "star." Saturn does better at magnitude 0.8, slightly brighter than the star Regulus, next to it. The Moon is close to Mars on the 7th and near Saturn the next night. Mercury and Venus are hidden behind the Sun's glare, but Jupiter emerges as the summer's dominant planet. The giant world, shining at a blazing -2.7, rises before 11:00 p.m. and meets the Moon on the 19th. The two will grab the world's attention that night as they parade together in the midnight sky. Summer begins with the solstice on the 20th, at 7:59 p.m
In the evening sky, dim orange Mars passes near Leo's blue star Regulus from the 1st to the 3rd. At nightfall on the 4th, Regulus, Mars, and Saturn form a short straight line, with Saturn highest and Mars in the middle. The crescent Moon is below them. Mars is closest to Saturn on the 10th and 11th, somewhat low in the west at nightfall. In the opposite side of the sky, Jupiter is at its brightest of the year at magnitude -2.7. It reaches opposition on the 9th and hovers at its closest to Earth one night later. Mercury, low in the predawn east during the first half of the month, will be brightest at midmonth. Earth reaches aphelion, its position farthest from the Sun in 2008, on the 4th.
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