June is when the Milky Way begins to show a little earlier in the night, around 9 P.M., and when a lot of fascinating nebulae adorn our early evening skies. Planets Venus and Mars will set close to sunset by mid-June, and we’ll get to experience the year’s first solstice.
Book your visit this June to see your favourite object in space. We offer a guided Observatory tour and night sky observation via traditional and smart telescopes, like Vespera and Stellina. Al Sadeem Astronomy is the only distributor of these smart telescopes here in the Middle East. You can place an order or inquiry here.
Check out the list of night sky companions when you visit the Observatory this month, and some dates worth taking note of to help you plan your stargazing.
Observable night sky objects
The journey to the night sky at the Observatory begins at 8:00 P.M. until 10:00 P.M. Here are the celestial objects that they can observe during the tour:
Conventional Telescope observations
- Planet Venus (until 15th June 2023)
- Planet Mars (until 15th June 2023)
- Moon
- Full Moon – 04th June 2023
- Last quarter – 10th June 2023
- New Moon – 18th June 2023
- First Quarter – 26th June 2023
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Smart Telescope Observations
- Markarian’s Galaxy chain, a spectacular alignment of galaxies found in the Virgo constellation.
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- Lagoon Nebula (M8), a huge interstellar cloud of gas and dust located in the Sagittarius constellation.
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- Trifid Nebula (M20), a beautiful and complex emission nebula located in the constellation Sagittarius.
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- Omega Nebula (M17), also known as the Swan Nebula that’s located in the constellation Sagittarius.
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- Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC6334), a fascinating emission nebula located in the constellation Scorpius.
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- Lobster Nebula (NGC6357), a captivating emission nebula situated in the constellation Scorpius.
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- Eagle Nebula / Pillars of Creation (M16), a star-forming region in the constellation Serpens.
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- Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), located about 23 million light-years away and is known for its prominent spiral arms.
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Noticeable sky events
- Close approach of Mars and M44 – 3rd June 2023
Just right after the sunset, Mars and M44 (Beehive Cluster) will be close to each other, offering a striking visual contrast between the fiery red of Mars and the delicate, clustered arrangement of stars in the Beehive cluster.
- June solstice – 21st June 2023
The summer solstice on June 21 will signal the beginning of summer and longer days for the Earth’s Northern Hemisphere, where most of the countries in the world including the United Arab Emirates are situated.
According to the National Geographic, a solstice happens when the Earth is tilted towards the Sun that a big part of it “experiences the maximum intensity of the sun’s rays and has the most hours of sunlight.” Conversely, there will be longer nights for the folks in the other hemisphere (which is the Southern one, in this case).
A caveat though: although it’s officially going to be the start of summer, June 21 will NOT be the hottest day of the year because of various atmospheric factors.
- Moon – Mars – Venus Conjunction – 22nd June 2023
Planets Mars and Venus have started to go below the horizon earlier just right after sunset, but on June 22nd, the pair will be joined by the Moon in a conjunction.
- June Bootids Meteor shower – 22nd June 2023
The June Bootids meteor shower, also known as the Eta Bootids, is a relatively minor meteor shower with variable showers rate that occurs in late June. It originates from the debris left behind by Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke and typically produces a small number of slow-moving meteors with long-lasting trails.
Sunrise & set parameters
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset |
| 1 June 2023 | 5:31 A.M. | 7:06 P.M. |
| 30 June 2023 | 5:34 A.M. | 7:14 P.M. |
References
- https://in-the-sky.org/newscal.php?year=2023&month=6&maxdiff=7
- https://in-the-sky.org/sunrise.php?startday=1&startmonth=6&startyear=2023&interval=4&tz=0
- https://www.imo.net/members/imo_showers/working_shower_list