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The following is a discussion of just a few of the many objects that may be seen up in the sky, this week Sunday June 2 to Saturday June 28, 2008.

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International Space Station

The ISS is not visible from the Denver area this week.

Sun

As of today, Sunday, there is one small region visible on the solar disk. NOAA Region 10999 is located just west of the center of the disk. It is quite small, only 10 millionths of solar hemisphere in area and has one spot. See http://raben.com/maps for current location. Sunday June 22 sunrise is at 5:34 am and sunset is at 8:35 pm Saturday June 28 sunrise is at 5:36 am and sunset is 8:35 pm MDT

Moon

The moon is in the third quarter on June 26th at 6:10 am MDT.

Planets

Mars is visible low in the northwest as the sky darkens after sunset. Around 10:30 pm it is only 9 degrees above the western horizon. The star Regulus is slightly brighter and is 1.5 degrees to the left of Mars. Mars is now 1.6 magnitude in brightness and the semi-diameter is 4.5 arc sec. It is 195 million miles from earth. Saturn is in the constellation Leo as well. At 10:30 pm it is 12.5 degrees above the horizon and 4.5 degrees to the upper left the star Regulus. It is magnitude 1.2 in brightness and the semi-diameter is 17 arc seconds. It is 914 million miles from earth. Jupiter rises around 9:15 am in constellation Sagittarius. It will be at opposition with the earth on July 9th at 2 am MDT. It is magnitude -2.6 in brightness and semi-diameter is 47 arc sec. The GRS crosses at the following times this week: June 24 at 04:26 am June 25 at 00:17 am June 27 at 01:55 am June 27 at 09:46 pm June 29 at 03:33 am June 29 at 11:24 pm Mercury rises around 4:25 am in constellation Taurus.

Comets

C/2008 J1 (Boattini) is in constellation Cepheus. Its magnitude is estimated to be 11.1 (location on June 28th is RA 21 57 11 Decl +59 31 27) C/2007 G1 (LINEAR) is in constellation Scorpius. Est magnitude 11.5 (location on June 28th is RA 16 34 01 Decl -25 19 18)

Asteroids

3 Juno is in constellation Ophiuchus. It is 10.1 magnitude in brightness (location for June 28th is RA 17 16 25 Decl -04 34 47) 11 Parthenope is in constellation Capricornus. It is magnitude 9.9 in brightness (location for June 28th is RA 21 31 17 Decl -14 11 08)

Dark Sky

Saturday evening astronomical darkness begins at 10:36 pm and the moon rises at 1:58 am (Sun morning). The moon will be pretty thin and low in the east-north-east so it shouldn't interfere too much with views overhead and to the south and west. This is globular hunting season! On summer evenings at 40 degrees north perhaps 3/4 of the approximately 135 globulars brighter than magnitude 14 can be viewed. The majority of the objects are visible in the Ophichus, Sagittarius, and Scorpius portion of the night sky. Globular clusters are a spherical collection of stars orbitting a common core and are tightly bound gravitationally. They contain from tens of thousands to perhaps a million stars. They are fascinating objects to view with a telescope. Some have intense, bright, highly concentrated centers; others are sparsely populated; some gradually decrease in brightness and density. The majority of the globulars visible are from our own Milky Way galaxy. However, you may also view extra-galactic globular clusters as well such as G1 in Messier 31. Around 11 pm the most the most impressive globular cluster visible from mid northern latitudes, Messier 13, is high overhead in "dobs hole", making it tough to view for those high up on a ladder with large apeture dobs . The Hercules cluster is awesome to view though, and worth the extra effort. It may be seen without optical aid from a dark sky location far from light polluted urban skies. Check the Astroleague's Globular cluster for a list of globular clusters to explore. The globular cluster club is chaired by LAS member, Mike Hotka. There is a lot to view in the summer sky from the giant planet Jupiter, numerous globular clusters, hard to locate asteroids, to faint comets in Cepheus and Scorpius. Whatever your experience level may be, there are some fascinating objects waiting to be explored. To fully appreciate the night time sky, get away... far away from light polluted urban skies. See you in the dark!