The Sky This Week, 2012 June 19 - 26 Saturn, imaged 2012 June
17, 02:08 UT The Moon returns to the evening sky this week,
waxing to the First Quarter phase on the 26th at 11:30 pm
Eastern Daylight Time. Luna passes about seven degrees south of
elusive Mercury on the evening of the 21st. To find the fleet
planet on that evening, locate the Moon in a pair of binoculars
shortly after sunset, then look to the right and slightly above
the crescent’s upper cusp for a dusky star-like object. Mercury
should pop out of the twilight half an hour to 45 minutes after
the Sun goes down. On the nights of the 25th and 26th the Moon
passes below the red planet Mars. The astronomical season of
summer officially begins with the occurrence of the summer
solstice, which falls on the 20th at 7:09 pm EDT. At this time
the Sun will be located directly over the Tropic of Cancer about
halfway between Hawai’i and Midway Island. For residents of the
Northern Hemisphere this will be the longest day of the year.
Here in Washington we’ll