Looking at the Last Quarter Moon during the early morning hours of June 13, it can be seen passing within a few degrees of the red planet Mars. (Another planet, Neptune, is also there, but invisible without binoculars).
On June 19, just before sunrise, low in the east the almost-New Moon will be next to brilliant Venus, in the vicinity of the distinctive ‘V’ pattern of stars which includes the conspicuous star Aldebaran. Western astronomers know this as part of the constellation Taurus the Bull.
The Boorong people of north-west Victoria were reputed to be keen and renowned astronomers. Tragically they and their culture were displaced, dispersed or destroyed as their lands were taken, and we have only second hand accounts of their knowledge. It is believed they saw Aldebaran as part of the constellation of Gellarlec the Songman, who keeps the essential knowledge of the people. Gellarlec’s name may be derived from that of the pink cockatoo, also a songster, and whose salmon colouring corresponds to that of Aldebaran’s.
Just west of Melbourne, the Wathaurong people have left physical traces of their astronomy, at Wurdi Youang. This is an arrangement of about a hundred large basalt stones in a shape somewhat like the silhouette of an ice-cream in a cone. The two straight sides of the cone point directly to the midsummer and midwinter sunsets, with the line of symmetry between them pointing directly East-West. Sadly much knowledge of this construction was suppressed by missionaries and lost.
Midwinter Solstice occurs this year on June 21. It may be of interest to learn that, whereas the Winter Solstice is the day with the least hours of daylight, it is usually not the day with the latest sunrise and earliest sunset. Due to the elliptical orbit of the Earth, these may occur a few days either side of the Solstice.
The opposition of Earth and Jupiter, when the two planets are at their closest, occurs on July 14, and the opposition of Earth and Saturn, on July 21. With more than a year until the next oppositions and the two planets’ proximity in the early night sky (in the east from dusk onwards), mid-July is the perfect time to view these magnificent gas giants. If you have access to a telescope there is a wealth of viewing objects: Jupiter’s four moons, its weather (particularly the Great Red Spot, the largest known cyclone in the Solar System), Saturn’s eight moons, and, of course, the Rings. (If you are looking at any of these moons, there are charts available so that you can identify them.) Even for the unaided eye, Jupiter is brighter than any of the stars in the night sky – but it will be upstaged on the evening of July 5, when the Full Moon, Saturn, and Jupiter will make an outstanding line-up.
By Vlack
The Coburg Meddler 