2024, June 20: Summer Solstice

June 20, 2024:  The summer solstice occurs today at 3:51 p.m. Central Time. Before sunrise, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn are in the eastern sky.  The bright moon is near Scorpius after sunset.

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by Jeffrey L. Hunt

Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:16 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 8:29 p.m. CDT.  Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.

June 20: Summer Solstice

Sunrise, the change in light from night to day
Photo Caption – Sunrise

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The solstice occurs today at 3:51 p.m. Central Time.  At this time the sun appears farthest north in the sky.  It passes overhead at the Tropic of Cancer, latitude 23.5° north.  Daylight is at its maximum length as well as a long period of twilight before sunrise and after sunset.

The astronomical season lasts 93 days, 15 hours, 53 minutes.

At Chicago’s latitude twilight lasts 4 hours, 24 minutes.  Darkness, when the sky is as dark as it is naturally, is one minute shorter.

Here is today’s planet forecast:

Morning Sky

Hello, Jupiter!

2024, June 20: Bright Jupiter and Mars are in the eastern sky before daybreak.
Chart Caption – 2024, June 20: Bright Jupiter and Mars are in the eastern sky before daybreak.

Hello, Jupiter!  It continues to emerge from brighter morning twilight, appearing higher each morning in the east-northeast at one hour before sunrise.  Use a binocular to see the Pleiades star cluster over 7° to Jupiter’s upper right.  Jupiter and the cluster are too far apart to see the stellar bundle and planet in the same field of view.

Red-orange Mars is almost 20° above the east horizon, slightly brighter than Saturn, but considerably dimmer than Jupiter.  The planet passes 11.0° to the lower right of Hamal, Aries’ brightest star.  The Red Planet is marching eastward in front of the constellation, heading toward a conjunction with Jupiter on August 14th.  The gap between them is over 25° this morning.

Saturn

2024, June 20: Saturn is in the southeast at morning’s mid-twilight, an hour before sunrise.
Chart Caption – 2024, June 20: Saturn is in the southeast at morning’s mid-twilight, an hour before sunrise.

Saturn, likely the easiest planet to see, is nearly 35° up in the southeast.  Not as bright as Jupiter and slightly dimmer than Mars, the Ringed Wonder is brighter than most of the stars in this morning’s sky.

Saturn stands against Aquarius’ faint, distant stars.  This morning it is nearly 25° to the upper left of Fomalhaut, the “mouth of the southern fish,” and approximately the same distance to the upper right of Deneb Kaitos, the Sea Monster’s tail.  Saturn appears in the region of several watery constellations.

Jupiter and Saturn, December 20, 2020.
2020, December 20: Jupiter and Saturn (300mm).

The distance from Jupiter to Saturn is over 75°.  This gap opened since their Great Conjunction during 2020.  Jupiter continues to slowly widen the gap each year until it overtakes Saturn again in 2040.

Evening Sky

Mercury, Venus

Mercury and Venus are east of the sun, indicating that they set after the central star and considered evening planets.  Both set during bright twilight.  Venus sets 21 minutes after nightfall, followed by Mercury nearly 20 minutes later.

Mercury is heading toward its evening greatest elongation in about a month.  The planet suffers from a poorly inclined ecliptic and longer summer twilight.  The view is disappointing for northern hemisphere sky watchers.

Venus is slowly emerging from bright twilight.  It suffers from the same visibility as Mercury until later during the season.

Bright Moon near Scorpius

2024, June 20: The moon is low in the southeast after sunset, one night before the Full phase.
Chart Caption – 2024, June 20: The moon is low in the southeast after sunset, one night before the Full phase.

An hour after sundown, the bright moon, 99% illuminated, is over 10° up in the east near Scorpius.  The moon reaches the Full phase tomorrow at 8:08 p.m. Central Time. This month’s bright moon is known as the Strawberry moon.  Sometimes it is called the Honey moon because of the moon’s low path across the nighttime sky.  This name could be related to the wedding trip since June is a popular month for nuptials.

This evening, find Antares, representing the Scorpion’s heart in celestial artwork, 8.9° to the lunar orb’s upper right.  In this moonlight, a binocular may be needed to see this star.  Use the optical assist to see the arachnid’s outline, from the forehead, marked by Dschubba, to the claws, dotted by Zubeneschamali and Zubenelgenubi.

Tomorrow morning, the moon sets one hour before sunrise.

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