[upbeat music]
[Preston Dyches] What's Up for June!
A partial solar eclipse,
the scorpion's sting
and June is for Juno.
Following last month's total lunar eclipse,
June brings us a solar eclipse.
On June 10th, the Moon will slip briefly
between Earth and the Sun, partially
obscuring our local star from view.
Whereas May's lunar eclipse was
best viewed around the Pacific,
this month's solar eclipse will
be a treat for those in the Northeast U.S.,
Eastern Canada and Northern Europe.
For U.S. viewers, this is a sunrise event,
with the Moon already appearing to have
taken a bite out of the Sun as it's rising.
So you'll want to find a clear view
toward the eastern horizon to observe it.
Those farther to the north and east
will see more of the Sun obscured by the Moon.
For those in Northern Europe
it's more of a lunchtime eclipse.
Wherever you are, please review eclipse
safety practices and never look at the Sun
without proper protection for your eyes.
[Whoosh]
On summer evenings, you may notice a curved
grouping of stars crawling across the southern sky.
Among them, a brilliant red beacon.
This is the constellation Scorpius--
the scorpion--and beginning in June
it's the prime time to look for it.
This grouping of stars has been thought
of as having the shape of a scorpion,
going back to ancient times in
the Mediterranean and Middle East.
In the Greek myth, the scorpion's
deadly sting brought down the great
hunter Orion, and that's why, the story goes,
we find them on opposite sides of the sky today.
This pattern of stars also has been seen
as part of a great dragon in China
and the fish hook of the demigod Maui in Hawaii.
That fish hook shape also forms the tail of the scorpion.
At the beginning of June, if you're
in the northern hemisphere, the Scorpion's
tail might be below the horizon
for you early in the evening.
It rises over the first few hours after dark.
But by the end of the month,
the scorpion's tail
will be above the horizon
after sunset for most stargazers.
That bright beacon-like star in Scorpius
is Antares, which is a huge red giant star
and one of the brightest in the sky.
It forms the blazing heart of the scorpion.
So look toward the south and use Antares
as your guide to find the constellation Scorpius.
[Whoosh]
Finally, this month, you'll remember
back in December when Jupiter and Saturn
had their incredibly close meetup in the sky.
In the run-up to that "Great Conjunction,"
Jupiter led Saturn across the sky
all through 2020.
Well, six months later
the pair continue to move farther apart.
And now Saturn has the lead position
as the two planets rise and set.
Look for them in the east after
midnight or toward the south at dawn.
And for more Jupiter excitement in June,
NASA's Juno spacecraft is making its
next close fly-by over Jupiter on June 8th.
And this time it will also make a
low-altitude fly-by
over the planet-sized icy moon,
Ganymede on June 7th.
This is the first of several planned fly-bys
of the Jovian moons by Juno over
the next couple of years that include
encounters with icy Europa and volcanic Io.
[whoosh]
Here are the phases of the Moon for June.
You can catch up on all of NASA missions to
explore the solar system and beyond at nasa.gov.
I'm Preston Dyches from NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
and that's What's Up for this month.