2024, June 15:  Pleiades Reappear

June 15, 2024: The Pleaides star cluster emerges from bright morning twilight.  Mars and Saturn are in the eastern predawn sky.  The moon nears Spica.

The Pleiades star cluster.
Photo Caption – The Pleiades star cluster. (U.S. Naval Observatory)

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:15 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:27 p.m. CDT.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

Pleiades Reappear in Eastern Sky

Pleiades emerge from bright twilight
Chart Caption – 2024, June 15: An hour before sunrise, the Pleiades star cluster is in the east-northeast to the lower right of bright Capella.

The Pleiades star cluster is emerging from bright twilight into the eastern predawn sky.  The stellar bundle has seemed to pass behind the sun after its disappearance earlier in the spring.  The cluster is made of dimmer stars, and depending on local weather conditions and obstructions at the horizon, the stars appear without optical aid during the next several days.

At one hour before sunrise, the bright star Capella is over 10° above the northeast horizon.  The cluster is slightly lower and about 30° to the star’s lower right.  If it is not visible to the unassisted eye, locate it with a binocular.  What is the first date you see it without the optical assist?

Here is today’s planet forecast:

Morning Sky

Mars and Saturn before Sunrise

2024, June 15: Mars and Saturn are in the eastern sky before daybreak.
Chart Caption – 2024, June 15: Mars and Saturn are in the eastern sky before daybreak.

One hour before sunrise, when the Pleiades are in the east-northeast, Mars is about 15° above the horizon and over 25° to the upper right of the star cluster.

The Red Planet is marching eastward in front of Aries, less than 12° to the lower right of Hamal, the constellation’s brightest star.

Saturn, slightly dimmer than Mars, is over 30° above the southeast horizon.  It moves eastward in front of Aquarius’ dim stars.  The planet’s rings and brighter, larger moons are visible through a telescope.

Jupiter

Jupiter is slowly emerging from bright twilight.  Rising 70 minutes before sunrise, the Jovian Giant is over 5° above the east-northeast horizon 40 minutes later.  At this hour, twilight is too bright to see the planet.  Begin looking for it in five mornings.

Evening Sky

Venus and Mercury

Venus and Mercury are east of the sun, meaning they set after the sun and before midnight.  The planet duo appears near the sun, setting shortly after nightfall.  Mercury reaches greatest elongation next month, but the apparition is very unfavorable, especially with longer summer twilight.

Venus first appears for a pretty apparition later during the summer.

Moon Nears Spica

2024, June 15: The moon approaches Spica in the south-southwest during evening hours.
Chart Caption – 2024, June 15: The moon approaches Spica in the south-southwest during evening hours.

An hour after sundown, the gibbous moon, 68% illuminated, is less than halfway up in the south-southwest.  The moon is approaching Spica, 8.2° to the lower left.  Tomorrow, during the daytime in the Americas, the lunar disk occults or eclipses the star for sky watchers in western Asia.

Next month, the occultation occurs for observers in the Americas.

Tonight, the moon sets after midnight and about three hours before daybreak.

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